The Dispatch
by Arny-the-Entity
Summary: The Titans investigate a research facility called Gemini. Their mission is to apprehend some one who allegedly broke in, sounds like a cinch. However, they soon come to realize that in a place like this... some doors are best left closed, permanently!
1. Headlight

Located somewhere near the outskirts of Jump City in an isolated and secluded area stood a large and unusual building. It resembled a vertical office block complete with three tall chimneys and a huge rusted satellite dish on it's roof. The faded words _'_ _ **GHOST PLANET INDUSTRIES**_ ' were displayed just above the variously smashed and boarded up windows. Clearly the building had long since been abandoned but in spite of that it still consisted of one resident. Sat at a crest-shaped desk in a relatively spacious room was young individual, dressed in monochrome stripped tracksuit and hoodie with abnormally long sleeves that overshot his hands. Completing his look was his trademark ear-flap hat that shade half of his pale colored face. He was currently listening to some music as he held an old Sony Walkman in his sleeve covered palm.

" _I've bin tellin' everybody that your my girl, cuz I'm not one to be shy._ "  
" _You don't have to go with me if you don't want, just tell everybody I'm your guy._ "  
" _You and me girl, it's forever, shalalala_!"

As the song ended he glanced up to see that he now had an audience. "Oh, greetings and salutations awesome people, nice to see the lot of ya again." He switched off the old device and slid his headphones out. He leaned back in his chair and smiled. "If your new to this story then let me introduce myself: the names _'_ _Anonymous'_ but you can all call me _Arny,_ and I'm gonna be your host tonight. By the way... check out my new crib. It may look like a dump on the outside but everything that I need for what I've got planned tonight is working perfectly... and **OH BOY**... are you all in for a wild ride... cuz _this_ story is gonna be s _omthin' else_ I tell ya. Even I'm a little unnerved at what my creator has in store for the Titans (Which he doesn't own by the way.) in this **Horror** story. But unlike most horror fics I'm gonna up the ante by displaying **Music Start And Stop Points** (MSP) that will request you to listen to certain types of music, this should give you the full effect and atmosphere as you read."

Arny then grabs hold of a lever on his desk and shifts it forward. There is sound gears moving as an old style television lowers from the ceiling, a few electric sparks emitted from the cables as the TV screen showed static. He then leaned back in his chair with his legs propped up on the desk and took out a TV remote. "Alright, now without further ado... grab some toilet paper cuz alotta bricks are gonna be shat..." Then In one swift motion Arny points the remote at the TV and presses _'Play'_. "Please enjoy!"

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THE DISPATCH part 1: _**Headlight**_

 _Ever found yourself running across a city after a heavy night out?_

 _Or suffering half asleep from working overtime for the hundredth night in a row?_

 _Ever found yourself driving home on a empty stretch of highway outside a deserted town?_

 _Ever chanced a look into your rear view mirror?_

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"Okay Star... I'll give you another hint. It being's with 'S', it's inside the car and it's used to save you life in a _crash_." Beast Boy explained to a confused Starfire. She pondered a moment before she quickly gasped and answered.

"Oh! it is not the _visor of the sun_ yes?" She pointed at the said object placed above Cyborgs head. BB let out a defeated sigh, covering his face with his hands. The team were heading back to the tower from having just halted another attempted heist by the since disbanded H.I.V.E. Five members. Cyborg proudly sat at the wheel of the T-Car, dreaming up his next modification he was going to add to his baby. Robin who was ridding shotgun was planning on looking into another possible Slade lead when he got back. That left Raven who was seated behind the masked detective and was using the time to rest her eyes and catch up on some much needed meditation. This was soon proven difficult due to Beast Boy starting up a game of eye spy with Starfire. He had been trying to play a friendly game with the team's resident Tamaranean for the past five minutes, only for her to be still stuck on the first go.

"No Star that's not it either. Look, I'll make the next hint it super easy for you... your practically _**wearing**_ it!" He motioned to her and she looked down at her attire. She pondered for a moment before answering. "Oh! are you referring to my _belt of safety_?" Almost instantly a triumphant smile spread across his green face. " **YES**! THAT'S IT! you got it!" The alien girl squealed with delight "OH JOY!" Their sudden cheering caught the attention of the now fully awake Empath. "Great. Now can you _please_ put an **end** to your childish game already?" She dryly spoke. Starfire blushed awkwardly and covered her mouth while Beast Boy turned and _eyed_ her for a second. "It's not _childish_ , we were bored so I'm just keepin' us entertained." He spoke defensively. Raven rolled her eyes "Whatever. Only _you_ could come up with such a game to pass the time." She faced away and looked out her window at the night sky that seemed to be way more darker than usual.

Beast Boy shot her a look before shifting his gaze back to Starfire, who was now fixated with the very object that he'd been trying to get her to identify. Sighing he turned to the two front seat Titans who were more interested in what was on the road ahead. They were currently driving along the city bypass route that was currently lit up buy the endless street lights. To their left were the rows of various lights being cast out of various buildings, showing there was still life within the city at these late hours. The ocean that surrounded the city ran along their opposite side but if one were to look at it at this time of night, it could easily be mistaken for an _endless void of darkness_. Cyborg glanced in his rear view mirror at his back seat friends, thinking that the atmosphere needed to be less dreary he made an announcement. "Hey ya'll, mind if I put on a little music?" At hearing his metal friend's suggestion BB's expression piped up. "Sure Cy, that sounds great!" The others didn't seem to mined with the exception being Raven warning him to keep it a low volume. Satisfied, Cyborg then reached over and turned the audio knob to the right. _Click!_ A random static noise leaked out of the door speakers.

Cyborg raised an eyebrow and tried to search for a different station. _Click!_ the static noise remained. _Click!_ more static, but only in a different pitch. "Yo, this is weird man. All the stations have no signal." After a minute of search and receiving noting but endless static, Robin took notice of his confusion and opted for an solution. Reaching forward he opened the glove box and took out one of his CDs, one that he knew would work. "Here Cy, let just put a CD on. It's a lot less of a hassle." He held the reflective disc in front of the bionic man who had given up trying to find a station. Groaning in defeat he grabbed the disk and inserted it into the small disc slot under the radio. The three boys waited patiently as the disc loaded... then they were all completely dumbfounded when the digital display read 'ERROR NO DISK' "Um... Cy? you did put it in the right way up, right?" Beast Boy tempted a logical explanation.

"Hey of course I did man, I mean look for ya self." He then ejected the CD revealing the band's colorful title, showing he had indeed inserted it the right way up. "I am the most confused, we are unable to receive any music for our liking?" Starfire inquired. "I don't know Star. Maybe there's a problem with the T-Car's radio." Robin assumed only for Cyborg to get defensive. "No way man! I put this radio in ** _mahself_**! the disc would have to be _broken_ in order for it to not work." Robin looked at his CD for a moment before speaking again. "So why can't we get a radio signal?" Cyborg looked back towards road and shrugged. "That... I can't explain it man."

 _The street lights and building lights all instantly blacked out._

(MSP): **_Dark Ambient Background Music - Elise will take you and show no mercy_**

"DUDES! what's happening?!" The alarmed changeling gasped.

"Robin? why has our city done the _turning off_ of all it's sources of lights?" Starfire expressed her confusion.

"OK nobody panic, I'm pretty sure this just a temporary situation." Being their fearless leader Robin's focus shifted to the metallic Titan. "Cyborg, can you tap into the city's mainframe power supply?" He hoped in reassuring his distressed comrades. "Sure thing man, this'll just take just a few seconds." He quickly tapped a few buttons oh his right arm then continued to steer the T-Car with his right. The stretch of highway they were on was now completely submerged in darkness, only the T-Car's headlights remained illuminating a few yards of the road ahead. After a few moment the words ' _Cannot trace output_ ' appeared on his arm. "Hmm... that's strange." Cyborg frowned. "Mah scanner's acting like were outta range form the city's power station." Robin quirked an eyebrow at his response. "And yet were still within the city limits... that doesn't make sense." He rubbed his out of habit.

Undeterred by the strange outcome Cyborg searched again for some kind of connection. His concentration now mainly on his computer arm the T-car's speed slow to a low 35MPH. Robin pondered a thought and took out his communicator and flipped it open. It cackled and fizzed at him, not even displaying a signal. Feeling uncertain he turned to his fellow Titans occupying the back seat. "OK, everyone check your trackers and see if you can get any kind of signal." Following his order the three Titans flipped open their respective devices only to bear looks of defeat.

"Sorry dude, mines gone all static-y."

"I'm afraid mine is doing the _electric of static_ too."

"Ditto."

Robin furrowed his brows, he faced forward and paused, looking at the darkened road before him. "Any luck on your scans Cyborg?" He chanced for a good outcome. "Nah man, I still can't get a-"

 _A bright white light shone through the T-Car's rear window, illuminating everyone._

Completely taken off guard by this the three back seat Titans whipped their heads behind them. "Dudes! there's something _**behind**_ us!" Beast Boy yelped. "Yeah, like it couldn't be more ** _obvious_**." Raven sarcastically remarked as her hooded face was now fully lit up. The brightness of the unknown light source increased causing the trio to shield their eyes "AH! it is the _too_ bright! I cannot face it!" Starfire cried as Cyborg glanced up at his rear view mirror and was dazzled by the light. "YO! what's goin' on back there?!" Reacting quickly Robin whirled down his window, the moment it opened the resounding noise of a loud revving engine could be heard emitting from the glaring light. The masked detective hoisted himself out the window to get a better look, his mask squinted as he tried to make out just _what_ was tailing on their rear fender. Another sound was heard as the light changed direction and made to over take the T-Car on the left hand side, drawing up alongside it while matching it's speed.

The other Titans looked over to see the silhouetted shape of a mid-sized dilapidated car with one failed headlight. It's withered paint job made it blend in with the darkness surrounding it, complete with blacked out windows that only seem to reflect the muddled expressions from the teen-aged superheros .

"Um... Cy?" Beast Boy unnervingly raised a pointed hand.

"Yeah I see it too B... and I don't know _what_ this guys playin' at." The car lingered beside for a few moments before it accelerated and sped off at a high rate of speed just as Robin clambered back into his seat. They all looked ahead to get one last look at the car's dimly lit taillights before they were swallowed by the horizon darkness.

(MSP)

"I am... the most confused." Starfire awkwardly broke the silence. "You and me both, that was just... _weird_." Cyborg gripped the steering wheel tightly. " _Soooo_ , any idea of who that might of been?" Raven ask nonchalantly. "Well when I climbed outside I caught a gymslips of something on it's roof, it was hard to see but it looked like a small red light... _looking straight at me._ " The masked detective revealed. Scratching the back of his head. Beast Boy voiced a theory "Hey um... you don't think... this could be the work of _Dr. Light_?" The other Titans pondered on that thought. "Nah man, this ain't his style. Why would he blackout the city if he's obsessed with everything bright?" Cyborg dismissed.

 _All the street lights and building lights flickered simultaneously before regaining power._

"Oh joy! we are no longer surround by the darkness!" Starfire cheered in relief. "Hmm... I was just beginning to get used to it." Raven sighed. "Well I'm glad that's over, I can finally look forward to gettin' back to work on _mah baby_." Cyborg grinned proudly. Robin rolled his eyes at his friends over attachment to his car. Just then an alert sound came from his communicator, he instantly flipped it open, relived that it was working again. He was met with a not so detailed distress call. "Um dude? you OK?" Beast Boy hesitantly asked. "No, we've got trouble." The Tin Man beside him sighed in annoyance. " _Ya gotta be kiddin' me_ , who is it this time?" Robin studied the limited information he had been given before snapping the device shut. "I'm not to sure, the details are unclear, all I know is there's been a break in at the **Gemini Research Facility**." He explained. Cyborg shook his head. "That old place? it's been abandoned for _years_ , not to mention that all contact with it has been officially _lost_."

"I know, but it's security system is still active and we have to intercept whoever it is that's triggered the alarm." He stated in his leader tone. "I hear ya man but for all we know it could be just a homeless person lookin' for a place to sleep." Although his theory did seem plausible Robin was still weary. "Yes, but considering our encounters in the past, minor things lead to _bigger_ things. So it's best for us to make sure that nothing big is transpiring." His fellow titans all shared glances before reluctantly agreeing. "OK, Cyborg set the course for **Gemini**." He ordered.

After a hurried ten minute drive they arrived at the large facility which was located up in the hills and out of the clear from the city. Emerging from the T-Car they all took in the sight of the derelict structure before them. "Oh yeah... this place _definitely_ looks homely." Cyborg muttered sarcastically as he took in the sight. It was a two story building that stretched far back along the hillside. All the second floor widows had metal shutters over them. There was a small hut-like building attached to the main building that acted as the entrance, complete with one single metal door and a small window that had been poorly boarded up. It's ominous state gave the Titans a sense of unease. "Dude, are sure about this? cuz this place just screams _horror movie cliche_." Beast Boy elaborated. "I must do the agreeing, this place is giving me the _bumps of the gooses_." Starfire felt a slight chill at seeing such a place.

Undeterred by the building's haunting appearance the fearless leader addressed his team. "OK, Raven can you sense any activate inside the base?" The empath placed her hands to her head and gently probed the old building ahead of her, feeling for anything unusual. "Hmm... _weird_..." Her brows furrowed and her teammates faced her. "What is it friend?" Starfire asked. "For a brief moment I sensed some form of life but it disappeared before I could identify it." The was a short pause before Robin spoke. "Alright... we'll just have to go in and be prepared for who... or _what_ is in there."

The last part of his sentence caused Beast Boy to shudder.

"Lets go Titans." With their leaders order they walked over to the entrance. "Hmm, no sign of a forced entry." Robin inspected the metal door which feature a valve handle like the ones used in submarines. He reached out and took hold off the valve. He tried turning it clockwise but was very stiff, it groaned in protest. "Hang on man, I'll me give ya a hand." With Cyborg's assistance and added strength the rusted valve turned with a few clunking sounds of metal shifting. The door adjusted back and slide left within the wall. The doorway was low and narrow so they had to enter individually with Cyborg having to duck to get through. Stood inside the small hut building, a small room that connected to a hallway was presented to the Titans.

 _The metal door slide back into place with a loud_ _ **SLAM**_!

(MSP): ** _CO AG - A Gothic Symphony_**

Startled by this the Titans whirled around to face it. Beast Boy paled. "Dudes... what did I tell you? total **_horror movie cliche_**!" Starfire shivered and hugged herself for comfort. Raven's hooded face remained stoic but she could help feel a strong sense of _dread _within the complex. Robin let out a sigh and tried to assess the situation. "Alright... let's not get worked up. There is surely a logical explanation for this sudden _lock-in_." Cyborg took a close look at the door then let out a frustrated groan. "Your not gonna like this ya'll, it's an **emergency seal** door, that can only be opened from the outside." With this revelation an uncertain thought crossed Robin's mind. "Hmm... why would they need to seal a research base from the _outside_?" He rubbed his chin letting the though sink in.

"So... I guess the only way to go now is forward?" Raven droned. "Sure looks like it." Cyborg added as they all gazed down the distressed looking hallway that lead further into the facility. To the surprise of everyone, the overhead emergency lights were on. The hall consisted of two lights, one straight above them near the entrance and the other all the way at the end above the entrance to a large room.

Starfire lit up a star-bolt to use as guidance as they cautiously advanced further on, taking in it's dreary atmosphere. Robin lead them towards the end of the hall, when an ominous rat scurried across their path, disappearing into a nearby hole in the wall.

Starfire let out a sudden _'eep'_ and was about to throw her star-bolt. Robin swiftly grabbed her wrist.

"Wait Star! it's just a **Rat**!" He quickly informed her. Lowering her arm she fidgeted awkwardly.

"Forgive me friends... I-I am... feeling the most... _unnerved_." The tanned alien huddled close to Robin who slid his hand into hers. "Don't worry Starfire, we'll look for a way out as soon as we've caught the intruder, if we still can't find an exit we can always rely on Raven to teleport us out." He looked towards the said titan who nodded in response. This seem to calm the nervous redhead who smiled lightly. Beast Boy and Cyborg shared a humorous knowing look as their leader guided his precious princess by the hand. Raven just rolled her eyes and followed.

Arriving at the large room the team surveyed it's surroundings. _The place had been ransacked_. Papers had been strewn across the tiled floor while filing cabinets and tables had been unturned. Beyond the wreckage was an enormous security barrier, made up of crosshatch bars. It took up most of the room's perimeter. There were fortunately two thresholds on the accessible side of the barrier... unfortunately neither were very appealing. To the right was a dimly lit passage that ended at a pair of closed double doors. To the left was the entrance to a room that was pitch black from lack of light. _One could only guess where it lead_.

"Come on, this way." Deciding it was wiser to stay where there was light Robin lead his team around the wreckage towards the right hand passage.

(MSP)

 _A loud feminine computer voice echoed through a PA system!_

"SECURITY BREACH! IN! WEST WING! LOCK-DOWN ENABLED!" The Titans came to a halt, looking around in defensive positions. Then the unmistakable sound of metal screaming caused them all to look up towards the high ceiling. Another large security barrier was lowering itself down towards them and it was descending fast. Thinking quickly Robin grabbed Starfire and dove forward, the two landed on the floor inside the dimly lit hall with a heavy thump. **SLAM**! the noise echoed throughout the facility. Sprawled out on the floor Robin lifted his head to find he had landed on top of Starfire, who was currently shielding her face with her arms form the preceding danger. She lowered her arms to be met with the Boy Wonders face.

" _Robin_...?" She blinked.

"Are you alright?" She felt her cheeks warm but Robin was too busy being concerned to notice. "Yes, I am the _'okay_ '." She reassured him and they got to their feet. "Is everyone else okay?" He looked around to find Raven who'd also joined them in the hall. She raised herself off the ground and held her head. "Uugh... yeah... just _peachy_." She groaned. "Yes, I am also the most _peachy_." Starfire added innocently. Robin sent her a smile when he head Cyborg awkwardly call out. "Uh... that's great that ya'll are OK and all but... me and BB have a slight problem." Turning to face them he paused to find that his two other teammates were trapped on the other side of the barrier. When he and the two girls had jumped forward, they'd done the opposite. Letting the situation sink in Robin sighed before contemplating a solution.

"Raven, can you teleport them to this side of the barrier?" He asked.

She closed her eyes and focused as her dark magic surrounded her. She was just about to fade when a wave of nausea caused her magic to suddenly repel, she staggered back in a daze. "Friend! are you okay?!" Starfire and Robin were quick to catch her from hitting the ground. "What happened Raven?" Robin's concerned voice brought her senses back. "I... I don't know... I was in complete control... my powers should have **_worked_**." She uttered. Starfire tried to light up another a star-bolt, only for a peculiar tingling to spread throughout her body which made her green lit energy dissolve.

" **Starfire**! Robin cried as she too fell weak at the knees. He quickly caught her before she could fall to the ground. Powerless to stop herself. "I... do not understand... my powers failed just like friend Raven's." With paranoia starting to seep across his team Robin looked toward the two male Titans. "Beast Boy, can you still transform?" Bracing himself the shape-shifter concentrated before successfully morphing into a hummingbird. He held it for a few seconds before switching back to human. "Yeah, my powers are still working." Relieved he the turned to his robotic friend. "what about yours Cy?" Immediately flipping open a section of his arm and pressed a few buttons. After a tense pause he sighed in relief. "Mah power levels at 100% and everything still functions." He closed the hatch and glanced up at the large barrier.

Robin put a finger to his chin, musing over the problem. He then turned back to the two girls. "Raven, can you try and sense for any kind of presence again?" Raven did the same method she used when they were outside the building. This time her focus didn't last long. "No... nothing... the place is a dead cell. What's more weird is I can't even sense _you_... and your standing right in front of me." This news seemed to unnerve the others. "Perhaps we are just in need of rest?" Starfire opted for an explanation. "No..." Raven replied with a troubled look. "You know well enough that our powers work from our emotions. This place is having an affect on us." The alien gave her a curious look. "By what do you mean friend Raven?" Lowering her hood she explained out in full.

"What I mean is something within this complex is letting off some kind of aura that is affecting our powers, I'm unable to sense it but I think it's acting like some kind of _invisible force_ _field_. I don't know how or why but it's only affecting thous of us who's powers and emotions are connected. So my only guess is it can detect our _fear_." A long pause followed as each Titan took in her theory. " _Oooh kayyy_." Cyborg dragged out the word. "So what are we gonna do about gettin' past this divider? blasting it with mah sonic cannon would be too dangerous. "Robin pondered before considering their next move. "Alright, Cyborg and Beast Boy, you two are gonna have to scour the east side of the base. Me, Starfire and Raven will continue searching for the intruder in the west wing. If you run into trouble, contact us immediately." The others nodded in agreement though Beast Boy paled slightly at the idea of separating.

"Good, we'll all meet back here if we don't find anything. Titans, split up!" He ordered and proceeded out of the room with his two female comrades.

(MSP): **_Kevin MacLeod - Anxiety_**

Beast Boy and Cyborg turned to face the other threshold leading into a blacked out passage. " _Aw great_... why do we have to go down the path with _no lights_?" Beast Boy groaned. "I don't like it either B, but we have little choice. so lets just get goin' and hope for the best." He advised and activated his shoulder-light, flicking on and casting a bream of brightness into the shadows. He advanced into the room with Beast Boy following close behind. Searching this way... then that... there didn't seem to be much inside."Mmm..." Being a man of technology he began to wonder just how the emergency lights were still working, wasn't this place supposed to be _condemned_? and just how was the security system still functioning? something didn't add up.

He shone his touch around the room, until it fell onto a pair of closed double doors. Approaching them he reached out to grab the handles.

" _Heeeeenooooooosaaaaakiaaaaa.._ **.** " It was soft but it vibrated the air around them. Both boys froze in shock and fear. Were they close to finding the perpetrator?

"Dude... d-did you hear that?" Beast Boy stammered.

"Yeah... I heard it B... and I've never heard anything like it before." Placing his hands back on the handles he heave them open with a loud creak of metal. They were greeted to another hallway, only this one was partly lit by constantly flickering lights. Unnerved yet grateful that they could see better the two ventured forward. The corridor was long with multiple doors on each side. Now and then they'd come across a door that was open to discover rooms that looked like a tornado had paid a visit to the facility. Nothing of importance was found so they kept moving. The hall ended at a 'T' junction, staying on high alert they moved slowly towards the end.

 _A darkened four-legged animal ran across the junction._

They both froze again, eyes wide and jaws hung open. "MOVE!" Cyborg immediately yelled and sprinted forward. Beast Boy yelped and quickly followed. Cyborg deployed his sonic canon while a green raptor appeared beside him. They jumped out form the hallway, instantly greeting them in the connecting hall was...

... _Nothing._

The two of them stood there, poised in battle positions and searching the hall for any sign of movement. But there was none to be found. The mysterious animal had vanished into thin air, much to the pursuing Titans confusion. Beast Boy returned to his human form before glancing at his robotic friend. "Uh... Cy? w-we did just see... _something_... right?" Retracting his cannon Cyborg stared down the decrepit hall. "Oh we definitely **_saw somethin'_** B, the real question is _**what**_?! that thing moved so fast my sensors couldn't even detect it." He looked back at his green friend who seemed to be zoned out. "Err... BB? you okay?" Shacking out of his stance he looked up Cyborg. "Dude, I don't know what we just saw... but my animal senses tell me that it wasn't an _earth_ animal." There was an eerie pause between the two before Cyborg spoke. "Uh... wha'd'ya mean by _that_ B?" With a troubled expression he explained in full. "What I mean is earth animals cast off various scents of _smell_ that I can _sense_ when I'm near them. Whatever that **_thing_ **was didn't cast any sort of scent... not even an _alien_ scent."

Cyborg raised his human eyebrow. "So what you sayin' is, we could possibly be dealing with some kinda _interdenominational creature_?" He received an uneasy look from the changeling.

"It wouldn't be the _first_ time Cy."

" _Aw great_..." He huffed.

Faced with this unsettling possibility, the two reluctantly continued their search, heading further into the unknown.

(MSP)

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Arny hits ' _Pause_ ' on the TV remote and faces the audience. "Welp, I can't say for sure whether this concept has been done before... sure hope not, cuz that would be a real bummer. Anyhow, the next chapter is currently being written, so please review and have a awesome evening! now lets rock n roll!" Arny then grabbed his Sony Walkman, slipping his headphones and re-winded the tape. He pressed ' _Play_ ' and began dancing to the music.

" _It's a rad rad world, in a mad mad town."_  
" _let them run um' outta site, rad rad world._ "  
" _It's a rad rad world, in a mad mad town._ "  
" _Upside down n turn around, rad rad world._ "


	2. Perpetrator

Back inside the **Ghost Industries** , Arny sat in his chair with an old style guitar across his lap, jamming to some music.

" _Pretty Mary Sunlight, she's alright with me._ "  
" _Pretty Mary Sunlight, she's Everything I need._ "  
" _Pretty Mary Sunlight, turns night to day._ "  
" _Pretty Mary Sunlight, don't ever go away._ "

Coming to an end he soon noticed that the audience had returned. "Oh hey there, it's good to see ya again." He smiled and placed the guitar down under his desk. "Alright, now lets get back to story at hand. Ya might wanna keep the lights on for this... unless your feelin' **_brave_** enough... anyhow, here we go!" Arny takes out the TV remote, points it to the TV screen and presses ' _Play_ '.

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THE DISPATCH

Part 2: _**Perpetrator**_

(MSP): _ **CO AG - A Gothic Symphony**_

Walking down a dreary corridor with echoing footsteps, the Boy Wonder lead Starfire and Raven further into the bowels of the complex. They all remained on high alert as Robin was the only armed Titan. Starfire kept herself close to Robin, their joined hands gave her some comfort in the otherwise bleak hall. Raven followed while keeping a watchful eye out for any surprise attacks from behind.

" _Aaaaseeeeeooooooraaaaaaseeeeeeth_... **.** " A soft whisper made itself known.

"Wait... listen..." Robin halted.

" _Yooooodeeeeeeeeaaaaanooooosh_... **.** "

"Can you hear that?" He looked around the hall, trying to locate it's source. The two girls stopped to listen, when a small breeze filled the hallway. Raven felt the temperature quickly drop and huddled herself inside her cloak. "R-Robin... i-it's cold..." Starfire stuttered in surprise. "Don't worry Starfire, it's only a draft." He continued to walk as Starfire began to shiver. "N-no friend Robin! ...i-it's _cold_! ...I-I s-should not be... f-f- _feeling_ the _cold_!" Her desperate pleads stopped Robin in his tracks, turning to her he wrapped his cape around him and the shivering Tamaranean. "It's okay Starfire, we'll get you to a warmer area." She held herself closer to him, in hopes of regaining some warmth. Robin shared a look of concern with Raven, her reaction to the sudden change in climate made him realize that this was definitely _not normal_. They continued to venture through the hall with the temperature still decreasing. They were now breathing out steam as they neared the end, where they finally emerged into another room. As soon as they entered the temperature shot back up and the breeze was gone. They all looked around, puzzled by what had just transpired.

"That was no ordinary breeze, something very powerful is here... but _what_?" Raven muttered.

Robin kept hold of the still quivering redhead as he took in her words. "OK... we better stay close, because for all we know we could be dealing with something that _isn't_ of this _world_."

"...or universe." Raven hauntingly added.

Robin momentarily paused at the dark girls words. "Right... then we better ready ourselves. As much as I hate to say this, if the worst does come to the worst... we may have to retreat." He received a skeptical look from the empath.

"It wouldn't be the _first_ time Robin."

"...I know." He sighed.

With the small group all in agreement their attention turned to the room they had entered. It was another large room, possibly the biggest one in the whole complex. It was full of old shipping containers that were stacked up to the ceiling in piles of three and positioned in a row of four. At the far end of the first row was a mid-sized gap that Robin assumed were the way out was. "C'mon, let's keep going... and stay close." He advanced forward with Stafire under his arm and Raven trailing behind. They reached the gap and turned into it, only to be met with more containers in the same position. Spotting another gap at the opposite end, they continued at a cautious pace, not knowing just _what_ could be around the next corner. Their slalom-like path continued for another seven rows.

 _A sound of metal groaning came from behind the next containment row._ Immediately the Titans each took a stance (Even in spite of their lack of powers.) and braced for a battle. _A second sound of metal groaned, followed by footsteps running of into the distance._ Robin's eyes winded. " **Titans**! **Go**!" He sprang forward and rounded the container with Starfire and Raven hot on his heels. On the other side they were greeted to a set of double doors that had just been flung open. They ran over to the slightly swaying doors to find they opened to another darkened corridor. Without hesitating Robin sprinted down the hall in pursuit of the perpetrator. The two girls however shared a brief look of uneasiness before running after their leader.

The hall ended at another set of double doors. Robin was about to kick them open when a blinding white light appeared behind the doors windows. " _Aagh_!" He froze, shielding his eyes with his right arm. "Robin!" Starfire gasped as she and Raven caught up. "I'm fine Star, I'm fine... I just... got blinded a little." drawing back to face the dark hall he blinked several times until his vision returned, seeing the now concerned faces of his two teammates. "Hold on, I got this." Raven stepped in between him and the doors, using her cloak as shield to the light. She heaved against one of the doors as it slowly opened. The bright light mysteriously dimmed as it spilled into the hallway.

Just what they would encounter beyond these doors... _they could_ _ **never**_ _have foreseen the outcome_.

(MSP)

With a final heave and a grunt, Raven successfully granted them access to the brightly lit room. Upon entering they discovered the source of the bright light was that of a small electrical lantern, the powerful kind that the military used. It was placed on the floor just off to the right of the room, plugged into a portable generator that was silently running. The brightness of the lantern lit most of the right side of the room up... but just _**who**_ had turned it on? they cast glances around the room but found no traces of anyone. Robin furrowed his brows and walked further into the room. He neared the center when something on the wall opposite caught his eye, turning to face it he discovered that it wasn't a wall at all... but a **door** _._ It was _huge_ , fourteen feet tall at least and half again as wide. The surface was black metal, studded with rivets and bolts, mounted on huge hinges. "Hmm..." Robin went to take a closer look at the strange door.

 _Another door from within the darkened side of the room slowly opened._

(MSP): _ **Kevin MacLeod - Apprehension**_

The three Titans jumped, thinking quickly Robin grabbed Stafire's hand and dashed over to a stake of crates and crouched behind them. Raven also searched for a hiding spot before hurling herself behind an unturned table. The door fully opened and was accompanied by quickened footsteps heading in their direction. Robin braced himself for battle, his hand nearing his Bo-staff. Stafire gripped his shoulder in concern, silently wishing her powers would return. Raven was thinking on a similar level, she mentally cursed herself for letting her powers fail once again due to her _fear_. The footsteps came to a stop, with each Titan holding their breath. _The sound of cloths rustling was heard_. Robin decide to take a chance and peered from behind a crate.

 _A_ _ **ghastly**_ _dressed figure was crouched on the floor in the center of the room._

The masked detective stared at the mysterious figure, it was wearing a dark colored cloak that was all torn at the bottom. It draped across it's wearer's body, in a way that reminded him of is former mentor. Accompanying it was large rounded hat the rested atop it's head. A little surprised by it's appearance he ducked back down. "What is it Robin?" Starfire whispered. "I'm not sure, but whoever it is... they _definitely_ shouldn't be here." He whispered back. Seeing his reaction Raven took a chance herself and peered over the table. She was little taken back by the figures grim look. It had now shifted poison and appeared to be kneeling. Two arms then emerged from within the cloak and into existence. She then noticed it was holding a small piece of paper in it's left hand and something she couldn't identify in it's right hand, was it some kind of _weapon_? she couldn't tell, but she was prepared for what ever would happen, even without her powers _she_ would not let herself go down without a fight. The figure leaned forward so it was near to the ground and outstretched it's right arm, placing the paper on the floor below it's obscured face.

 _It began to draw something on the floor._

Surprised and confused by it's actions Raven looked towards Robin who in-turn looked back at her with an equally confused expression. They sat in their respective hiding places for a few minutes as the strange figure continued with it's drawing. It would constantly rub the object, roughly against the tiled floor. Whatever it was drawing, it was certainly big, almost as big as the _T-Car_. Raven noticed that the figure would look back and fourth between the piece of paper and the floor, as if it were copying something on it. Every so often the object it was drawing with would fade itself out like chalk, only for the figure to take out another similar object to continue with it's unknown illustration. This continued for at least another five minutes, with the figure letting out hurried breaths. It never uttered a word but the way it would quickly change direction and frantically replace it's drawing instruments showed sighs of desperation.

Finally, when it arrived back to it's original spot in the center of the room, the figure sat up, discarded it's final drawing piece and let out an audible sigh of relief. It then gathered it's body into the standing position without parting from it's cloak. It stepped off to the side and took one last look at the paper before examining it's work. With a satisfied nod it screwed up the paper and threw it off to the side of the room, landing near Raven's hiding place. She stared at the discarded crumpled form, now curious as to what was on it. She looked back to see the figure was now facing the large metal door, she still couldn't see it's face as it was shielded by it's raised hood, which for some reason, wore a hat on top of it. Seeking a chance while it was distracted she reached out and grasped the scrap paper, tucking it under her cloak. The figure then reached inside it's cloak again and pulled out, of all things... a _book_ , opening it and proceeded to skim through the pages rapidly until it found the page it seeked. Resting the book on it's right arm, it began to whisper a series of words that not even Raven could understand.

" _Lussa_ , _Kars_ , _Oliviak_ , _Frenic_ , _Morcann_ a, _Tyma_..." As it spoke the book began to glow. Robin tensed at the sight, it was clear that some kind of ritual was taking place. Fearing the possibility of something **dangerous** being unleashed, he withdrew his Bo-staff and launched himself over the crates. " _Freeze_!" He shouted. The figure jumped at the interruption and spun round to face the cause of the sudden intrusion. "Don't move! your under arrest!" He announced to the strange figure who took a step back. Starfire and Raven quickly emerged from their hiding places to join their leader. When they reached his side what they saw only made them more confused. Matching it's cloak and hat was a dark colored ascot, covering the lower half of it's owners face, above that was a set of blue tinted goggles warn across it's eyes. The figure's face was practically _impossible_ to identify, even with the light from the lantern which only lit up the Titans side of the room.

(MSP)

"Alright, now are you going to come quietly?" The figure remained silent, clutching the book under it's right arm protectively. "Or do we have take you down the **_hard way_**?" Robin stated, holding his Bo-staff in defense. With a slight shift from under it's cloak, a small round device fell to the floor and rolled out towards them. They all looked at the circular ball as it neared them, Robin barely got a word out when...

 **BANG**! **HISSSSSSSSS**!

The Titans were blinded by a **_smoke bomb_**! "ROB...IN...!" Starfire coughed and staggered back, accidentally knocking the lantern over. It's plug detached from the generator, plunging the room into complete darkness. Raven held her cloak to her mouth as the smoke spread throughout the room. This gave the figure the chance to escape, Robin held his breath and ran through the smoke just in time to hear a door close at the far side of the room. "TITANS! GO!" He roared, regaining their lungs the two girls quickly followed his voice through the darkness and smoke. Robin wrenched the door open, entering another pitch black hallway. Robin flipped open his communicator as he ran. "Cyborg, Beast Boy, where are you!" To his shock he only received static. " _Cyborg_! _Beast Boy_! come in!" still no response, his teammates behind him tried their own devices, but they fared no better. **_Something_** had blocked their signals out.

Cyborg and Beast Boy had been searching for the unidentified animal for quite some time. They'd searched various rooms, with each one being more ransacked than the last. This only added more questions than answers, what exactly happened here that caused the base to be locked down? Cyborg pondered on that though as they reached another set of double doors, pulling them open they were both hit buy a thick layer of smoke. "Agh! dude! what is this stuff?!" Beast Boy cried and quickly covered his mouth. "I don't know man, but we gotta go through it!" Cyborg braved his way into the room, using his shoulder-light as guidance, he came to a halt when his metal foot bumped something on the floor. Shinning his light on the object he called out to his friend. "Yo BB, check this out." He kneaded down to pick up the small device and discovered it was the source of the smoke, after turning it this way and that he managed to deactivate it. On a closer inspection he noticed something strange. "Hey, this doohickey kinda looks like somethin' outta Robin's utility belt." Beast Boy joined his side as the smoke started to fade.

"Um... Cy? you don't think the others... could have ran into whatever we saw?" He hesitantly mentioned. Cyborg paused, then took out his communicator, flipping it open. "Robin, this is Cyborg. Do ya copy?" He waited for a few moments. "Robin, do ya read me?" He said a little more insistently. "Yo! can a _nyone_ read me?!" He got no response, and the smoke had now faded down to a thin layer. "M-maybe they're just outta ranger?" Beast Boy nervously opted. "I doubt it B, I programed these things to go for about fifteen miles. Somethin's seriously screwing with the electrical frequency in this place." He shone his light around the room, lighting up their surroundings. He stopped abruptly when he discovered the large black metal door. "What the..." He whispered, casting his light slowly across it. Beast Boy followed his gaze and was awestruck by the massive door. "Woah..." was all he could muster. They stepped forward to get closer look.

(MSP): _**CO AG - _A_ Gothic Symphony**_

Across the face of the door, graved into the metal, were words in some strange looping script that they could not recognize. Every surface was carved with that script, or with strange diagrams made of splayed circle-ended lines. In the center of the door was a large spoked wheel lock, and in the center of the lock was a keyhole. Above the keyhole was a _**sigil**_ , enclosed in three circles. Gazing up the length of the door Cyborg gasped in shock. Right above the door, written in high capital letters was: ' **PROJECT GEMINI** '. "Heh... well... looks like we've found out where the secret project is bein' kept." He sheepishly stated. "Dude... just what exactly were they working on to keep it behind a door like _that_?" Beast Boy was getting a really bad vibe, he looked up at the giant door Cyborg was examining.

Beast Boy felt a shiver go down his spin, as if the room had just gotten colder. "Um... Cyborg, s-shouldn't we start looking for the others." He whispered. Cyborg didn't answer, instead he began typing into his computer arm. The results that came back made him raise an eyebrow. "Mah sensors detect some kinda activity on the other side, but it's too vague to identify." Beast Boy stared at the door, more specifically at the spoked wheel with the keyhole... did the sigil symbol just _glitter_? he looked closer, but then dismissed it as his imagination.

"I think I'm gonna take some scans on this thing." Cyborg said, the top of his center finger becoming a camera. "We'll go find the others after this." His middle finger became a small laser, casting a blue beam of light onto the door. The diagrams surrounding the door began to glitter, this time Beast Boy knew he wasn't seeing things. "U-uh... C-Cyborg?" He squeaked. "I-I really t-think you shouldn't do that..."

"Relax BB, this won't take a minute." He stepped closer to it, scanning the lock. "I wanna do some research on it later, try and find out more about this place." The diagrams were now glowing, almost as if warning them.

Beast Boy was slowly backing away. "D-dude... y-you _seriously_ shouldn't be doing that."

"Alright, just a few more seconds." He scanned the sigil symbol before retracting his laser. The information now stored on his hard drive. "OK Beast Boy, we can-"

" _Raaaaaashaaaaaa_... **.** " _A whisper came from beyond the door._

Cyborg jumped back in shock while Beast Boy began to tremble. "D-dude... there's _something_ in there! ...something... **alive**!"

 **THUD**! **CRACK**! the two boy's watch in horror as the spoked wheel turned _by itself_! the darkness around them no longer felt empty. In fact, it felt positively crowded, as if they had an audience, watching them. Stepping back further from the door as the wheel continued to turn, counterclockwise. It made another CRACK! and a moment of silence before the door slowly groaned open, swinging to the right on a draft of cool, stinking air. Right before there eyes, a new path was shown to them, or at least that what it seemed to be. It was just as dark as every other non-lit room in the facility, however... there was something extremely off about this path... it didn't seem to _end_.

"Um... _oooh kayyy_ , this is... strange." Cyborg squinted, his shoulder-light shone brightly into the shadows, but it didn't reflect on any walls, it was like they were... _staring into an abyss_.

(MSP)

 _The doors they'd previously entered burst open!_

The two boys jumped with Beast Boy letting out a yelp, Cyborg swiftly aimed his light at the doors to see a darkly dressed figure running towards them. Immediately noticing it wasn't a Titan, he quickly deployed his sonic cannon. "Alright! just hold it right there!" The figure stopped dead in it's tracks. "Don't make this any harder for yourself." Cyborg kept his eyes trained on the figure, completely forgetting about the open door behind him. The two hero's stared at the figure, unsure of just who they were dealing with as it's dark colored cloths completely shrouded it in mystery. Beast Boy stared longingly at the gloomy figure, waiting for it to try pull some kind of escape trick. What he didn't expect it to do was to slowly turn it's head towards him, it's blue tinted goggles locking with emerald eyes.

He felt strangely intimidated under it's gaze, pushing it aside he narrowed his eyes at the figure, ready for anything it would throw at him. The figures focus then turned towards the large open door behind them, it let out an audible gasp. Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Don't try anythin' funny yo." He warned, but he was not prepared for the response he received.

" **YOU FOOLS**!" It yelled at them in a muffled yet husky voice. " **You've made a** **GRAVE MISTAKE**!" Momentarily taken back by it's hoarse tone voice, Cyborg quickly went on the defensive. "The only mistake being made is _you_ being _here_!" Standing his ground Cyborg failed to notice the light breeze entering the room.

" **YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND**!" It was practically growling at them. " **That vault you opened contai** -"

" _Haaaaseeeeoooohraaaaaaseeeeeeeth_... **.** " A haunting hiss made itself known, both boys snapped their head in the direction of the offending noise.

"What the heck is-" The sound of running footsteps caused them to look back, catching a glimpse of the figure ducking though the double doors. "Hey! get back here!" The Tin Man yelled and took off after it. He got to the door and glanced back to see his green teammate staring into the opened vault, _as if in_ _a trance_. "YO! Beast Boy **C'mon**!" His words shook the shape-shifter back to reality. " _Huh_?...oh... yeah! I'm comin' Cy!" He ran over to join his teammate and set off in pursuit.

They chased the figure into the containment room, running back and fourth between the large containers. It then lead them down various hallways and corridors, narrowly dodging overturned items. They still couldn't contact Robin or the others, so for now they were on their own. They reached yet another pair of double doors, Cyborg not wanting to be slowed down, shoulder-barged them open. He came to halt inside the room, a green cheetah by his side. Fueled by adrenaline, they glanced around searching for any sighs of the unknown figure. It was then they noticed they were in some kind of garage, it was another fairly large facility, multiple diagonal lines were painted on the floor, symbolizing parking spaces. To the left was a raised loading dock which had a slope leading up to it, to the right at the far end was huge metallic door, most likely where the vehicles entered.

 _The sound of an engine turning on echoed across the room_. Cyborg shone his shoulder-light around the garage, frantically searching for it's source. _A single headlight turned on from the other side of the loading dock_. "Dude... is that..." Before Beast Boy could finish the engine revved, followed by screeching tires. "YO LOOK OUT!" Cyborg yelled, they both leaped out the way as a vehicle surged towards them, it skidded and did a 180 turn before facing them. Cyborg aimed his cannon at the attacking vehicle, hopping to take out it's engine while Beast Boy transformed into a rhino, ready to charge it head-on. The sound of metal adjusting was heard from the vehicle, a small red light about the size as a camera lens appeared on it's roof. The two hero's stood their ground, prepared for the worse.

The vehicle made another sound, like something had slid open. This was followed by a activation sound that made Cyborg pause. ' _Wait_... _that sounded like_ -' A bright blue colored laser beam shot towards them. They dove out of the way as it zoomed over them, striking the metallic door behind them. After a few seconds it ceased firing, with a rev of it's engine it took of at speed towards the door. The two Titans scrambled to their feet, Cyborg's shoulder-light briefly lighting up the vehicle for a second as it sped passed them, that's when they discovered...

 _It was the same car they'd encountered on the road earlier._

They watched as it drove through a narrow hole in the door, making a scrapping noise as sparks and pieces of burnt metal went flying. Beast Boy changed back to human as Cyborg ran over to the hole, now very much baffled. why had it chose to escape rather than fight? the distant sound of it's engine could be herd, getting fainter... fainter... fainter until non-existent. "Um... so what _now_ dude?" Beast Boy awkwardly broke the silence. Cyborg rubbed his forehead and sighed. "I dunno man, all I know is, Robin **ain't** gonna like this." Beast Boy groaned at the thought, with one last glance through the hole they set off to locate the rest of their team.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Hitting ' _Pause_ ' on the remote again, Arny faces the viewers. "Well, how 'bout _that_ for an introduction? we've got a mystery person on the lose and a strange vault containing... _something_. Oo Welp, we'll just have find out what my creators got in store for the next chapter, leave a review if you can and I'll see you in the next one!" He picks up his guitar and starts playing another song.

" _Come on baby, let's take my car To the place where dreams come true_."  
" _It's a mile off the interstate, and if you want to dance, well, that's there tooooo_..."  
" _At the happy haunted sunshine house, we can grooooove... Oh yeah_."


	3. Fog Bound

Sitting laid back in a recliner chair, Arny held an original Gameboy in his sleeve covered palms. The theme of Super Mario Bros. rang out from the handheld console.

' _Blip_ '... ' _bleep_ '... ' _bloop_ '... shooting a brief glance to his left he noticed the audience was back. "Ah, I see you've all returned for the next chapter." He pauses the game and placing it down on his desk. "Welp... so have I, and I just gotta say I've been reading the handful a comments I've been sent." He smirks mischievously. "It seems some of you have got the idea that I'm pulling a huge prank on the Titans. Welp, to set the record straight... _No_. I am not responsible for all the events that happen in this fic. I'm just here to host it, so don't expect me to be the _mastermind behind the curtain_ cuz that ain't happenin'."

Satisfied with his short speech he picks up the TV remote. "Alright, with that settled lets see what happens next." He unpaused the TV.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 3: **_Fog Bound_**

" _Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all_." - Yvon chouinard

Just a few short seconds after Cyborg and Beast Boy fled the room to start chasing after the intruder, another pair off double doors burst open. Robin, Starfire and Raven emerged inside only to find a silent, empty and dark room with no sign of life. " _Oh Great_...! now where did he go?!" Robin let out frustrated sigh, having lost their target. It had been a rather tense chase since they were powerless to try and get ahead of the fleeing figure. "Robin? I am the most curious as to know what the unknown foe was doing?" Starfire questioned. Robin thought back to what they had witnessed the figure doing earlier. "I don't know Star, but from what I saw, I could only amuse it was some kind of **ritual**. That's why I had to take action, I couldn't take the risk something dangerous entering our world."

He looked towards Raven. "Especially with what we've had to deal with in the _past_." She gave him a subtle nod in agreement. "Understandable, we can't take any chances when intermediations are involved." With that though brought out they turned towards the room.

They edged forward, squinting their eyes to try and see through the surrounding darkness. Raven's foot bumped something, it rolled away across the floor, catching the others attention. "Raven, are you OK?" Robin called over. Regaining her composure she called back reassuringly. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just bumped into something." Curious as to what she hit the dark girl followed the sound of the rolling object. Nearing it she bent down, reaching out, touching it with one hand. She felt a medium sized, cylinder shaped object that was warm in the middle. She immediately identified it as the electrical lantern that had been knocked over during the intruders attack. Robin reached out with his other arm and pressed forward. That's when his hand make contact with something cold and metal. "Huh?" He was confused, as he was sure he hadn't reached the end of the room yet.

" _Eeeeeeeeenooooooossssss_..." A haunting whisper caused them all to halt in their places.

"That noise again, just where is it coming from?" Robin glanced around, it didn't make any sense at all. It sounded close... _very close_... as though someone else was in the room with them.

Sensing that they might be in danger, Raven lifted the lantern up right and grabbed hold of it's electric cable. She swiftly made her way to the far right hand side of the room, where she remembered was the location of the portable generator. After a brief search she found the small power source, kneeling down she fumbled around the wall until she located the socket and reattached the cable.

The lantern came to life, lighting up half of the room and nearly blinding Raven in the processes. Robin and especially Starfire were instantly startled by the sudden blast of light. It was then he made the discovery that it wasn't a wall he was leaning on, but the large black metal door he found earlier. _It was swung wide open_. "When did this open up?" He questioned out loud. Raven rubbed her eyes to regain her vision and turned to face her friends. The moment she saw the wide open door... her eyes widened. The darkness that lay beyond it was too dark, even for _her_ to see.

 _A soft breeze then entered the room_ , the temperature began to drop again. "R-Robin... I-I am feeling... t-the _cold again_..." Starfire began rubbing her bear arms. "I'm here Star." Robin reacted to her distress and draped his cape around her again. "Robin... I-I am wanting... t-to do the... l-leaving _please_!" He stared at the redheaded girl who was now trembling within his grasp. He then looked over to Raven who in return, sent him a troubled look. Seeing the Tamaranean warrior in such a vulnerable stat of mind was enough to convince her that they should vacate the facility. With two Titans powerless, no communication and the intruder now long gone, Robin breathed out a defeated sigh. "Okay... we'll regroup with the others and search for a way out." He concluded and they proceeded to leave the room.

(MSP): **_Aalborg Fantasy Soundtracks - Will-o'-The-Wisp_**

Suddenly _,_ the breeze became stronger and changed direction. The three Titans found themselves being pulled back by a strong wind. "H-hey whats going on?!" Robin yelled as he tried to move forward. "ROBIN! IT IS LIKE THE TYPHOON!" He turned to see both her and Raven being pulled towards the open vault. It was _sucking them in_! like a giant vacuum! " _I'm coming_!" Reaching into his utility belt he drew out his grappling gun, he took aim at the opposite wall and fired! it penetrated the concrete with ease. Ignoring his own safety he lunged toward them, grabbing one of Stafire's arms just before they reached the large opening. Starfire screamed while Raven desperately clung onto the panicking Tamaranean .

The wind was accompanied by a massive, horrid screeching. Starfire squeeze her eyes shut, she had never heard such a haunting sound. Raven clenched her teeth, looking over Robin's should, her eyes snapped open in horror as a multitude of crates, cabinets and anything metal slide towards them. "ROBIN LOOK OUT!" She shrieked. Her leader snapped his head around just in time to see a table sliding straight at him. In one swift move he jumped to the left, pulling the two girls with him and they slammed against the black metal door. They grunted in pain as the wind tossed them back on fourth against the door. Robin twisted his body around so he could see if anything else was coming, then to his utter shock, Starfire began to lose her grip. "I... cannot hold on... much longer!" She cried, her eyes seeping with tears. "NO STAR! DON'T LET GO!" He called to her. Raven fully agreed and immediately tried to assist her friend, only to lose her own grip in the process.

With a joint scream they were now clutching themselves to their leaders legs, clinging on for dear life. "HOLD ON TIGHT!" Robin called over the incredible noise. He released his trigger finger, but nothing happened. " _No_...!" He whispered in disbelief. His gun had jammed! he pressed the trigger again frantically, then he resort to hitting it. " _C'mon_ , **work**!" He looked up to where the grapple had implanted itself, shock filled his eyes as cracks had started to form around the grapple. His heart pounding, he watch helplessly as the grapple began to dislodge itself. "Robin! what are you doing?! Raven yelled from behind him. Robin slowly turned his head towards his two teammates that he'd known for so long, his masked face showing both fear and remorse, he uttered one word.

" _Starfire_..."

 _The grapple broke from the wall._

The echoing cries of two female Titans were the last sounds made as they were sucked into the vault, vanishing into the darkness. The screaming stopped. The wind stopped. The temperature went back up and... _they were gone_. The room was now devoid of all furniture, the electrical lantern was sucked in right after the Titans, leaving the room once again in total darkness. For a short moment... all was eerily quiet.

(MSP)

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Cyborg turned a corner into a corridor that lead towards the vault room, Beast Boy followed just behind him. "Man, whoever that was, sure wasn't your typical burglar. I dunno how we're gonna explain this to Robin, and the fact that the intruder was the driver of that strange car we encountered less than an hour ago. Whatcha think B?" Beast Boy didn't answer. Cyborg looked over to see he had come to a halt a few yards behind him. His gaze was staring off into the distance, his right ear twitched visibly. "Hey BB... you okay...?"

"Shh!" Beast Boy raised his hand. "I can _hear_ something dude." Cyborg paused and listened out for a few seconds. "I don't hear anythin' B-" Beast Boy silenced him again. "It's something only my _super sensitive ears_ can pick up." He explained. "You know how animals have a much higher sense than humans? and they can sense approaching danger where humans can't?" Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Ya mean like when the cows start layin' down cuz they know when a storms a comin'?" Beast Boy sent him a troubled look.

"Yeah, and right now my senses is tellin' me that something _**as big as a storm**_ is headin' this way..." His expression then turned to confusion."...but it's comin' from the ** _inside_** of the base."

 _A distant rumbling was heard._

(MSP) _**Kevin MacLeod - Hush  
**_

The two snapped their heads towards the double doors at the end of the hall. They couldn't explain it, a roaring thunder... getting louder... _louder_... **_Louder_** to the point where the hall began to vibrate. They two boys began to back away quickly. " _Aw jeeeeeez_! Cyborg groaned. _A blinding amber-ish colored light filled up the doors windows_. Beast Boy screamed in horror and turned tail, running for his life. Cyborg quickly took off after him. "YO! what kind of an earthquake is _this_?!" He yelled over the loud rumbling. "DUDE! ** _it's not an earthquake_**!" Beast Boy called back. They rounded a corner at the end of the hall. An explosion was heard, _the double doors were blow off their hinges_ , _the bright light thundered down the hall._ They ran down several corridors and hallways, twisting and turning in hopes of gaining some distance.

Cyborg chanced a look behind him, his human eye widening as he saw the bright light baring down on them. " _Run_ _ **faster**_ _BB_! _it's comin'_ _ **straight for us**_!" Beast Boy glanced back to see the hallway be engulfed buy the light. He screamed again and morphed into a greyhound, scurrying further ahead of Cyborg. They rounded another corner which lead the back into the garage area, entering the large room Cyborg looked around desperately searching for a way out. Beast Boy started barking urgently, he shone his shoulder-light over in time for it to land on the gaping hole in the metallic door that the intruder had made to escape. Mentally thanking the unknown figure for leaving them an exit, he sprinted towards it.

The bright light burst into the room, accompanied by the loud rumbling, it loomed towards them, ready to consume their existence. The room began to shake violently as the ceiling began to fall apart above them. Cyborg stumbled over the fallen debris, he glanced down at the greyhound that was narrowly avoiding the large pieces of metal that fell into his path. Looking back at the hole, it was at that moment that he made a split second decision. Reaching over with his left arm, he scooped up the green dog into his arms, holding him close in a tight grip against his metal chest. "HANG ON LITTLE BUDDY! **_Gangwaaaaaay_**!" Like pro football player going for a touchdown, he charged forward and threw himself through the hole!

(MSP)

 _Everything went white_... _there was no sound. No movement. Just a long period of complete silence._

Slowly, the white began to clear, revealing a Galapagos turtle laying on the cold ground. Beast Boy curled up inside the shell, waiting for the impending danger to end. He'd changed into the well-armored creature as last ditch effort to protect himself, knowing it could survive just about _anything_. After a few tense seconds, he slowly... _slowly_... peaked his head out from the shell, shifting it's head this way, then the other. Shifting back to human, he staggered to his feet and turned around, only to let out an audible gasp.

 ** _The research facility was gone._**

(MSP) _**Kevin MacLeod - Aftermath**_

"What the...?" All that remained was an outline of concrete slabs surrounding a large pit full of dirt and bricks. It was as if the building had _imploded_ on itself. "Dude... what _happened_?" He uttered and looked around in confusion. What was going on? what was that bright light? who was the mystery figure? and what was with that huge door? he took a step back, trying to make sense of everything that happened. His foot bumped something on the ground, he looked down and was instantly startled.

 _It was one of Cyborg's arms._

"CYBORG!" He shriek and bent down to pickup the severed appendage. It was his left arm, the one that contained his sonic cannon, it had been blown clean off from just above the elbow. "I gotta find the rest of ya! an' fast!" He turned away to being his search, only to stop in his tracks at what he saw next... or more like... what he _didn't_ see. A hazy, dark mist had descended over Jump City, obscuring it from view. "That's weird... I don't remember fog being in forecast." He mumbled. It was still dark out, the moon was full and the only light to see by. Getting back to the matter of locating his robotic teammate, he shifted into a sniffer dog, ready to track him down. He spent a good few minutes of trying to latch onto any sort of sent, but it there just wasn't any. Letting out a small whimper he prepared to shift back.

' _Beeeeeeep_!'

The green dog froze, raising his right ear, he listened out.

' _Beeeeeeep_!'

It was faint, but loud enough for his highly sensitive ears to pick up. Something nearby was make a small, electronic noise. Twisting his head in the direction that it was coming from, still in dog form he proceeded towards it.

' _Beeeeeeep_!'

Had something survived the earlier explosion? was it even an explosion to being with? trying not to think too much into it, he followed the sound to the left of the pit and near the hillside.

' _Beeeeeeep_!'

Through the thick fog, he could see a small red light, blinking on and off. He quickened his pace, unsure of what he was about to find. There was something slumped up against a pile of rubble. What ever it was, the beeping noise was transmitting from it. Readying himself for any potential danger, he edged through the fog. What he saw made his eyes shrink in shock and horror.

 _He had found what was left of Cyborg_.

His upper torso and head lay there motionless, both his legs were missing and his right arm was half detached, it hung on by just a few strands of wire. The lower half of his torso had been blown of, rendering him immobile. "Cyborg! _NOOOOO_!" Beast Boy had never seen him in such a bad state, he grabbed hold of his broad shoulders. "Wake up Cy! _wake up_!" He shook him for several moments, he then resorted to lightly slapping his face. "C'mon Cy! _WAKE UP_!" He was now getting desperate. "YA JUST GOTTA WAKE UP NOW PAL! YA JUST GOTTA!" It was no use, his damaged friend remained silent. The only response he did get was-

' _Beeeeeeep_!'

Kneeling against his friend's remains he let out distraught sigh, his attention was then drawn to the flashing red light which turned out to be his robotic eye. At even intervals it would light up in sync with the constant ' _B_ _eeping_ ' noise. It was then he remembered one time that Cyborg had explained to the team that if there was ever a case where he was severally damaged, his body would go into ' _Shut Down_ ' mode. However, his brain activity would still be active and would be able to transmit a distress call. _That was it_. The beeping he could hear was his call for _help_. "I'm here for ya buddy." Beast Boy smiled weakly. Cyborg's usual blue glow was absent, but that one little red light showed that he wasn't dead, but... he wasn't _alive_ either. He stood up and took his communicator. "Robin! Starfire! Raven! ANYONE! I need help!" Just like before, there was no response. Where could they be? what could of happened to them? were they even still..." Beast Boy shook his head, squashing the last though out, he looked at his downed teammate. "I gotta get you back to the tower, and hook you up with some power... hey that rhymed!" He tried to lighten the mood, but got no laughs.

He then realized that he had another dilemma. Just how was he going to get Cyborg back to the tower? with no way of tracking the others, he was on his own. He frowned, trying to think of a solution. He couldn't fly him back to the tower, Cyborg was a _heavy weight_ , even with half a body. He opted to carry him in gorilla form, it would take longer but he would at least have the strength to support his weight. With that decided he transformed into a gorilla, grabbed hold of Cyborg's torso and lifted him up off the ground. With him safely tucked under his large hairy arm, they headed back towards the road.

(MSP)

With one last glance at the remains of the research facility, they began to head towards the city. He walked a few yards before coming to an immediate halt, a mid-sized, black silhouette appeared in the center of the road. Squinting his eyes he edged forward to see through the fog. His eyes winded as a familiar shape and color combination came into view.

 _It was the T-Car._

(MSP) **_Audionautix - Deep Space_**

He walked over to the vehicle that was Cyborg's pride and joy. How had it gotten over here? this was certainly not the same place they'd left it when they arrived, it was now parked pacifically in the center of the road, pointing away from the complex. Gently placing his said friend down, he shifted back to human and approached the driver's door and peered inside. It was empty and looked relatively untouched. "Weirdness..." He whispered and tried the driver's side door. It opened with ease. Who could have moved it? and how? Cyborg was the only one with the keys, which he kept securely inside one of his chest plates. Realizing that fact he rushed back over to Cyborg, knelling down in front of him he inspected the robotic man's torso. " _Okay_... how am I supposed to get them?" He questioned and began prodding his friends metal chest. He ran his hands all over the torso, trying to find a way to activate the plate panel that contained they keys. "I could _really_ use your help here pal!" He continued searching, hoping to find a hidden switch or something. "C'mon Cy, gimme a **_hint_**!" He groaned in frustration and slammed his forehead against Cyborg's chest.

 _ka-_ _ **cha**_! **Zzzzzzzzzzzt**

A panel ejected itself from the left side of Cyborg's chest. Beast Boy recoiled back with a yelp as few electric sparks discharged from the open hole that was now in his chest. He looked down at the small compartment that had landed near him, his eyes caught something shiny inside it. **_THE K_** ** _EYS_**! reaching down he picked the most sacred item that belonged to Cyborg. Grasping them carefully in his gloved hand, he couldn't help but felt a little proud of himself at what he'd achieved, even if it was pure accidental. "Thanks Cy... um... sorry about the extra damage." He awkwardly spoke, feeling a tad guilty for inflecting more damage on the already downed Titan.

He went back to the car and sat in the driver's seat, casting his gaze around the interior, the dash was filled with numerous buttons, knobs and dials. He only now realized just how complex the T-Car was, just like everything Cyborg built. He could never get his head round how everything the Tin Man made was so awesome yet so difficult to use. That pledged him with another question, how did whoever moved it manage to bypass the alarm system? then again, it wouldn't be the first time someone stole the T-Car. Cyborg had it fitted with more upgrades than the _T-Tower's_ security system. Beast Boy just hoped that he had made the starting procedure easy to use. Looking under the steering column, he was relieved to find the ignition barrel. With the key in his hand he carefully inserted into the barrel, twisting is slowly.

The car whirred to life with a rev of it's engine. " _We have contact_!" Beast Boy cheered, stepping back out he opened the rear passenger door, then morphed once more into a gorilla. He lifted up Cyborg, placing his torso and severed arm onto the back seat, he then leaned over him to grab his safety belt, pulling it across him and slotting it into place. Satisfied that he was secure, he morphed back to human and closed the door. Getting back in the driver's seat, he looked up into the rear view mirror so he could see Cyborg's unconscious form behind him. "Heh, I don't know how you'll feel about me driving the T-Car Cy, but right now... it's kinda our only option." Beast Boy smiled nervously at the immobile Titan, knowing he'd get no response. He looked down to his right at the transmission which fortunately for him was an automatic. He shifted it out of 'Park' and gently pressed his foot down on the gas pedal. The engine revved but the car didn't move. Confused at this he looked back at the transmission, he then discovered the handbrake was on. Mentally scolding himself for missing that minor detail, he reached down and pulled the lever up. The car jerked forward, startling the changeling as he grabbed the wheel, quickly releasing his foot from the gas, the car rolled to a stop. Breathing hard, he let out a nervous chuckle. "Heh, heh... I err... I guess I should put my own safety belt on fist." With that said he pulled the belt across himself, slotting it into place.

He looked up at the fog covered road ahead. Swallowing, he took hold of the steering wheel and eased his foot on the gas pedal again, this time the car slowly moved forward. "Don't worry Cy, I'll get you back to the tower. Then we can try and find the others." He announced confidently to his friend as he drove the car slowly into the thick fog.

(MSP)

* * *

The TV pauses once again. "Heh, looks like someone could use some drivin' lessons. Anyhow, the next chapter will take less than a month, I promise. My creator tends to get... distracted a lot, so if you can, leave review. I'm gonna continue with my game now." Arny picks up the Gameboy and unpauses it, ' _boing_ '... ' _coin_ '... ' _power up_ '... Star music starts playing. "Ha, ha, _run! Goomba! run!_ "


	4. Silent City

Arny sat with his legs propped up on his desk and arms folded, as he watched a TV show that was being broadcasted on the hanging TV in front of him with a bored expression.

" _Charles in charge of our nights and our days_."

He blandly sung the theme tune.

" _Charles in charge of our wrongs and rights_."  
" _And I say, I want Charles in charge of me_..."

He then noticed that the audience had come back again. "Oh! hey there!" He quickly sat up, grabbing the remote and switched the channel to the previously paused video. "I was just wonderin' when you lot would return." He smiled casually. "Besides, I've kinda gotten into a phase of watchin' old TV shows." Arny then briefly smirks knowingly at the audience. "Especially since my creator just loves to sneak in references to other cartoons that no one seems to notice." He then turns back towards the TV "Alright then, lets get back to the show!" He aims the remote and hits ' _Play_ '.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

part 4: _**Silent City**_

" _Uuuuhn_..." Raven held her head, which ached. She felt as though she had fallen from a great height. She rolled onto her side, feeling the cold, hard, tiled floor beneath her. The last thing she remembered was that noise... that horrible... ear piercing _noise_... she couldn't describe it. Slowly opening her eyes, she was greeted with a dimly lit ceiling. "Where am I...?" She sat up and glanced around, spotting her two teammates who lay a few feet away from her, sprawled out on the ground. She quickly crawled over to the nearest body, which happened to be Robin.

"Robin! wake up!" She shook her masked leaders shoulder urgently. He stirred slightly and let out a groan. "Robin! you've got to wake up **_now_**! something is _terribly wrong_!" Looking around her eyes widened as she recognized their surroundings.

 ** _They were back in the vault room. As though nothing had happened._**

(MSP) _**Kevin MacLeod - Echoes of Time v2**_

Robin blinked several times, letting out another groan as he tried to regain conscious. " _Ugghh_..." He lifted his head to see Raven's kneeling next him, a deeply concerned look on her face. " _R-Raven_...?" As he began to recover, two thoughts quickly entered his mind. "w-what happened...? w-wheres... Starfire?" He sat up, letting his eyes adjust to the the familiar room they had somehow reappeared in. That's when he saw Starfire's unconscious form in front of him. " **Starfire**!" He gasped and crawled over to her side. Her expression was that of distress, but there didn't seem to be physical damage to the alien princess. "Starfire! wake up!" He shook her gently.

" _Ohhhh_..." She moaned, curling to one side and trembling. "R-Rob-b-in...?" She uttered, trying to regain her vision. "It's okay Star, I'm here... we all are." He carefully helped her up into a sitting position, relived that she was OK, if not a bit light headed. "Oh friends... what unspeakable horrors did we experience?" The redhead asked nervously. "I don't know Star." Robin stood, helping her up from the floor. "The last thing I remember was trying to keep us from being pulled into..." He paused, unsure at just what they were being pulled into. "...whatever was beyond that vault door."

"Umm... you might want to come and take a look at this." Raven spoke from behind them.

Turning around to face her, they both stared in bewilderment. _The large open vault before them had changed_. It's interior was now an ordinary looking containment room, with three metal walls and ceiling. There was no sigh of the endless darkness that had previously swallowed them whole. "What the...?" Robin started, trying make any sort of sense of what was happening. The lights above flicked, diverting the masked detectives thoughts to an important question. "Wait a second... this room was pitch black and being lit up by a lantern when we arrived, so just _how_ are the lights working now?" The three teens all shared looks of confusion. "Perhaps friends Cyborg and Beast Boy found a way to restore the power?" Starfire theorized. Robin was skeptical but decide to see if there was a logical answer to his question. He took out his communicator, flipping it open. "Come in Cyborg or Beast Boy, this is Robin, do any of you read me?" Fizzling static filled the small circular screen like before. A sigh escaped his mouth and he made to turn it off.

" _We have lost contact with Gemini_." An obscured voice emitted from the device. Robin nearly dropped the tracker in surprise. " _Hello_?! _Cyborg_?! _Beast Boy_?!" He called into his device. There was no picture, but the sound quality was clearly audible. " _Gemini_?" A second equally obscure voice spoke, but not to Robin. " _That new energy program. I didn't know it was so far long_." Robin's eyes narrowed. These voices were definitely **not** thous of Cyborg and Beast Boy. It sounded more like an radio transmission. " _That's right. Clean, efficient. Single device that could power the western seaboard for the next two-thousand years._ " The three heroes listened carefully to the mysterious conversation. They wondered just what on earth was happening... who were the two men talking? how were they transmitting through a Titan tracker? where were Cyborg and Beast Boy, and what was with that _large vault_? " _We've got a search team, people in secret. Last contact, they were close to done. **Damn Close**. 'Week ago, satellite, landline... all dead. We're counting on **you** to get your arms around this Gemini thing._" The line very suddenly went dead. They all stared at the device itself.

"Well... that was... unexpected." Raven uneasily broke the silence. "I must do the agreeing, I could not do the recognizing of thous voices." Starfire exclaimed. Robin let out a soft sigh of weariness. "Okay... lets just try and find a way out, hopefully we'll be able to contact the others from outside." The two girls agreed and they made to leave the room. Raven caught a glimpse of something on the ground and jolted to a stop. " **Wait**!" Her urgent yell causing her teammates to freeze and look over to the dark girl. "Raven, whats wrong?" Robin asked. Raven didn't answer, instead she stared down at a huge, black symbol that had been scrawled into the tiled floor, she squinted at it. "Oh my..." She was unable to finish her sentence. Robin and Starfire were quickly at her side. "What is it _,_ Raven?" Her concerned leader followed her gaze, his mask widened when he saw the symbol. Starfire's lips went slight agape at what had been drawn. "W-what on _Tamaran_ is _that_?" She whispered. " _A binding symbol_..." Raven answered, kneeling down to touch it. "...made from wax." She recognized the texture that made up the mark. "They are used as a warding symbol to fend off evil spirits. _This_ is what that strange intruder was drawing, apparently it was trying to protect itself while it spoke the ritual." She stood back up, Robin rubbed his chin at hearing this information. "Mmm... that just raises more questions. Just _what exactly was in that vault_ , and how did it open after we halted it's ritual?" There was short silence as they had no way of answering these question. "We best get going, for all we know Cyborg and Beast Boy could be outside waiting for us." He attempted to sound reassuring, but it did little to ease the dread that was looming over his teammates.

(MSP)

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(MSP) ** _Audionautix - Deep Space_**

Beast Boy cautiously drove the T-Car through the dense fog. The road ran along a hillside and had no markings, so he had had to rely on the car's headlights for guidance. He drove for what felt like ages, not quite remembering just how far off the map the facility was. After several more miles of driving blind, a row of very tall shapes in the distance emerged through the fog. Surprised and somewhat relived that he was nearing the city, Beast Boy glanced into the rear view mirror. "Don't worry Cyborg, we'll be back at the tower in no time." Smiling at his unresponsive passenger, he looked back at the road. The tall shapes soon came into view, revealing them to be a section of the many skyscrapers that made up the city. The large structures pierced through the dark mist, leaving only their lower bases visible. "I wonder just how long we were in that place?" He checked the small digital clock in the center console. '12:00 AM' blinking repeatedly was all it displayed. Beast Boy frowned. Somehow, the car's electrics had been reset.

Eventually the road lead him back onto the bypass route, which to his surprise was oddly still empty of any traffic. "Huh, I guess we weren't in there that long, there isn't a morning rush hour." He followed along the three lane road for a few miles until it ran alongside the city. He suddenly shrieked as he was then forced to slam on the brakes! Beast Boy tightly gripped the steering wheel, his eyes widening in disbelief as the car came to a screeching halt.

 _Just a few yards ahead, the road had completely vanished._

In it's place was a row of police barricades, and just beyond them the road abruptly ended. Beast Boy blinked his eyes several times and shook his head. "Dude! when the hell did _**this**_ happen?!" Not quite believing what he was seeing he opened his door and climbed out, walking over to the barricades. He noticed they were the tradition ' _Road Closed_ ' barriers, the ones with the twin circular, orange warning lights that were strangely not active. Raising an eyebrow he walked past them and up to where the road ended. His jaw dropped open as he made a shocking discovery.

The road ended at the edge of a **cliff**! the thick mist submerged what was below it, making it look like an endless abyss. _It was like the road had been ripped from existence_. Feeling a shiver go up and down his spine, Beast Boy backed away slowly. When he reached the barricades he turned and quickly retreated back to the T-Car. Closing his door he let out a disturbed sigh. "Dude... just _what_ could have possibly done _that_?" He looked out of his side window in the direction of where the ocean would normally be visible. "And just _what the heck_ is up with this **_fog_**?" He sat in silence for a minute, he then turned towards Cyborg in the back seat. "I dunno what you'd say about all this Cy, but it looks like we're gonna have to take a detour." With that said Beast Boy shifted the car into reverse and performed a near flawless three point turn. "Hey, I'm gettin' pretty good at this Cy." He smiled at his little achievement. Cyborg remained silent, apart from his constant ' _Beeping_ ' noise.

They backtracked for half a mile when Beast Boy spotted on off-ramp that lead into the city itself, feeling relieved that he'd found another route he made a U-turn and drove onto it. The ramp ascended up to where it bared right. Following the ramp into the city, it didn't take Beast Boy to long to realize that the city was deserted. None of the street lights were working, not even the traffic lights. All the shops and buildings were in a state of decay or looked condemned. The roads were just as empty with not a single other car in sight. The city was devoid of any human life. "Dude... it's like a _ghost town_ , where is... _anybody_?" Beast Boy drove further into the city, the T-Cars engine echoed around the urban environment. He followed the road until it reached a 'T' junction, unsure of which way to turn he slowed down as he approached it. The sound of another engine was heard coming from his left, Beast Boy looked over in surprise.

(MSP)

 _A lone, dark colored car sped across his path._

(MSP): **_Dark Ambient Background Music - Elise will take you and show no mercy_**

"What the...? _that car_... its the only thing that's moving!" Without hesitating he push down hard on the gas pedal and set of in pursuit. ' _Now things are just getting completely outta whack._ ' His mind though as he chased after the the strange car. He followed it down several streets, it's dimly lit taillights being the only thing that was visible through the thick mist. Beast Boy used that as a guidance and was soon able to close the gap between him and his target. "I can't lose this guy, he has to know whats going on." The chase continued with the dark car seeming to be on some kind of mission. It didn't try to pull away or lose it's pursuer, instead it slowed down to a relatively normal speed. This only confused the young Titan even more. "This is weird... just _what_ is this guy up to?" The dark car made a right into an area that Beast Boy was all to familiar with, _the main drag_ , also know as the street where the Titan's favorite Pizza Plaza was located. His gaze lingered on it as as they drove past. It looked vacant and elderly, as if it had gone out of business years ago. He looked back, going rather a pasty shade of green. What in the world had happened to the city? the last thing he remembered was being grabbed by Cyborg just before they made it out of the base, then there was a huge blast of white. He then gasped as something dawned on him. " _No_... it can't be true..." Dreading the thought he looked at Cyborg's reflection in the rear view mirror. "They can't be..." Before he could finish the strange car took off at sped and made a sharp left turn. Caught of guard by this Beast Boy accelerated to catch up, when he rounded the corner he was forced to come to a screeching halt.

 _Both the car and the road ahead had vanished._

Beast Boy stared in shock and disbelief at the mist filled cliff edge where the road abruptly ended. Where did did the car go? more importantly, where did the **_road_** go? this had gone from being eerily weird to down right _mind screw_. "Eh...?" He gaped around, as though he were on an alien world. Cautiously, he opened his door and approached the edge of the recently new cliff. Like the previous one it was boarded off by a row of police barricades, but what he also noticed was the buildings that normally ran parallel to the road on either side had also disappeared, with only the dark mist covering the empty space. With a defeated sigh he returned to the T-Car, sitting back behind the wheel.

His brow furrowing as he thought for a long time, sitting in silence, with the occasional ' _Beep_ ' coming from Cyborgs immobilized body behind him. It gave the green teenager comfort, knowing that he wasn't entirely alone.

The sound of hurried footsteps shook him from his thoughts, he looked over at the near side door mirror, catching a glimpse of someone running across the road behind him. Startled by this he immediately jumped out of the car, just in time to see a darkly dressed figure disappear into a subway entrance. "Hey! wait!" he called out and ran over to the entrance. Greeting him was a flight of stairs descending down to an unlit subway system. He hesitated as he now had another dilemma. "I can't just leave Cyborg, he's completely defenseless." Looking back at the route they came from, he noticed the fog had become thicker, as if it was a solid wall. "Something tells me I can't go back that way." debating on what he should do and faced with only one direction, he sighed and took one last look at the T-Car.

"I'll come back for ya, buddy... _I promise_." He whispered and began to advance down the stairs. Maybe he'd find an answer to what had happened to the city and his friends... or maybe he'd find something a lot more _sinister_...

(MSP)

* * *

Arny pauses the TV. "Well? What do ya think? as promised, next chapter uploaded in less than a month. Be sure to fill me in on any questions or comments you might have, okay? _great_! Cuz right now, I'm gonna watch another show." Arny sat back and changed the TV channel, the theme of the 70s show ' _CHiPs_ ' begins to play. "Alright! now _this_ is entertainment!"


	5. The Subway

Sitting at his desk with a bucket fall of popcorn, Arny watched the hanging TV front of him in excitement.

"Come on, come on, get to the _wreck_!" The TV picture suddenly went static before changing to a paused channel. "H-hey! what gives?! I'm tryin' to watch _CHiPs_!" Arny then realizes that he had company. "Oh... it's just _you_ awesome people... sorry... I kinda didn't expect to see you back so soon." He rubbed his arm awkwardly "Oh well, that just means we can get right back to the show." He smiled and with the remote in his palm, he unpaused the TV.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 5: **_The Subway_**

The trio of Titans had been walking around the complex for a few minutes. They hadn't found anything out of the ordinary, but they couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. They backtracked all the way to the large security gate that had separated them earlier, Robin stole a glance at the entrance to the darkened room where had last seen his other teammates, a sense of guilt and uncertainty washed over him. They continued to navigate through the facility until the reached the hallway that lead to the way they came in. Turning the corner, they were all amazed at what the saw up ahead.

 _The emergency seal door had been opened._

"OH JOY! we have found the way out!" Starfire expressed happily and started sprinting down the hall. "Starfire **wait**!" Robin called out as he and Raven ran to catch up. She ran through the small hut building and exited out the narrow doorway. She then came to a juddering stop as her eyes meet the outside world. "Starfire! hold up!" Robin huffed as he and Raven arrived next to her, only to be stunned at the sight that greeted them.

 _It was broad daylight_.

"What the..." Robin gazed up at the clear blue sky that surrounded the city. "We couldn't of been in there for no more than thirty minutes, _how_ _can it be daytime_?" He questioned aloud. "We must have been knocked unconscious for a good few hours." Raven theorized. They Looked around in all directions and instantly spotted the _**T-Car.**_ It was parked a few feet away from the entrance, it's front facing towards them. _Just the way Cyborg had left it_.

Discovering that neither Cyborg nor Beast Boy were present, Robin tried once more to contact them with his tracker. " _Cyborg, Beast Boy,_ if you can hear me? please answer _**now**_." The screen remained blank... that was, until a muffled voice answered. " _This is an urgent message for any surviving Teen Titan_." The three Titans stared wide eyed at the device in their leaders hand. " _The instructions that are about to be announced are important to your safety_." The voice was different to the ones before, it was a lot more... gruff. " _You **must** returne to you headquarters immediately. Do **not** stop for anything. Activate lock-down mode. Keep all lights **on**. Stay away from the windows. Do **not** answer your phone. If you hear a noise from outside, do **not** search for it. If you see a light outside, do **not** go after it. If you hear a door or window opening from inside your home, find a place to hide and stay **silent**. If you see someone or something inside you home, do **not** look behind you or interact with them. If there is more than one of you, do **not** separate. If one of your teammates goes missing, do **not** search for them. This message will **not** be repeated_." The strange transition ended, leaving a group of baffled Titans.

"Um... that was... _most peculiar_... was it that of an honorary Titan?" The redheaded girl asked. "I don't think so Star, they way it was presented, it sounded more like a _computerized_ emergency broadcast system rather than someone actually trying to contact us." He put his tracker away and looked around. "Things just aren't adding up. We lost the intruder, we can't contact the others and now we're getting strange messages from unknown sources."

"Maybe... we should follow it's instructions." Raven's voice caught the others attention. "Someone has gone to great lengths in order to send us a message that may help us with... _whatever_ has happened, even if it's telling us that we have to hide in our own home. We can't just ignore it." Although her masked leader didn't like the idea of hiding from a threat, he had to agree that she was right. "Alright... we'll head back to the tower and see if we can locate them on the main computer, their tracking devices should still be active." The other two nodded, and it was so. They climbed into the T-Car with Robin taking the drivers seat, luckily Cyborg had in-trusted him with a spare set of keys in case there was an emergency. They took one last look at the abandoned complex before Robin started the car. Even in the daytime, it somehow gave off an unearthly vibe.

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(MSP) **_Audionautix - Deep Space_**

Beast Boy wandered slowly down the cold tiled steps, reaching the bottom he followed a short path that lead to an open area. He climbed over the ticket gates and stood at the top of a pair of escalators heading down. The place was completely dark, as if the power wasn't even on. Staying on edge he advanced down an escalator, the metal echoing off the walls with each step. The lack of any other noise creeped him out. To one with animal instincts, there was always sound. But not here. Here it was... _dead_. His breathing and walking sounds didn't comfort him much either. Reaching the bottom he briefly morphed into a bat, equipped with night vision Beast Boy was greeted to the main lobby which had four other routes to take. Two square shaped passages were to his right along with two cylinder shaped tunnels in front of him, the left one being blocked off by a security fence barrier. Changing back to human he decided to try his luck with one of the passages to his right. Looking around as though something would jump out at him, he moved towards the fist square passage.

He made only a few yards down the path before his highly sensitive ears alerted him. He stopped and listened. Something was approaching, but it was coming from somewhere beneath him. Was it the sound of train arriving? he quickly turned back, making a sharp left into the second passage. He followed it to a stairwell and proceeded down them, rushing as quickly as he could. The sound of machinery slowing to a halt filled his ears as he neared the bottom. Hurrying down the final set of stairs, he turned a corner.

 _A train sat stationary at the platform ahead_.

He rushed towards it, only to come to a sliding halt. _The train stood empty and silent, not even it's engines were running_. "Um... _hello_?" He called out. "Is anybody _there_?" All of it's electric doors were slid open, but there was no sign of life. Cautiously he stepped into the awaiting carriage, glancing around Beast Boy's shoe scuffed something, and he looked down. Squatting, he found of all things, a _lighter_. He identified it's shape. Clicking it once, twice, three times-! A spark ignited and a small flame was born. It lit the carriage just enough for him to see. "That's better... whats over there?" He walked towards the end of the carriage at the back of the train. He suddenly went pale.

(MSP)

 _A red substance was spewed all over the door to the rear cockpit._

(MSP) **_Soundscape for scary stories - Haunting_**

"What the heck! is this... _**blood**_?! for crying out loud! is somebody having a laugh?!" Deeply disturbed at what he'd found, he quickly backtracked and exited the train, reaching the stairs he noticed a set of brown colored double doors that had not been visible in the darkness. The green teen tried one of the handles, but it wouldn't budge. "Locked... _figures_." He mumbled before making his way back up to the main lobby. Arriving at the top, he noticed something was different about the room. " _The round tunnel_." He whispered. _The fence barriers had been lifted up_. Thoroughly confused, he edged towards the newly open passage. It was just as dark and unsettling as everything else. " _ **HELLLLLOOOO-OO**_!" He shouted, holding the lighter up trying to see further into the darkened tunnel. There was nothing, his voice had been swallowed into the shadows.

 _There wasn't even an echo_.

Feeling more disturbed by the events, he prepared himself for any danger and proceeded into the tunnel. Beast Boy could hear nothing but his own footsteps echoing off the concrete walls, he'd been in several of the city's many subway stations, but not this particular one. It's layout was different, having these seemingly endless tunnels that seem to be taking him further into the unknown. After a few more minutes of walking, he came to a stop. A barrier was blocking a set of stairs that was ascending upwards while a passage on the left had another set heading down. " _Just how deep do these tunnels go_?" Whispering aloud he hesitantly trooped down the stairs. Reaching the bottom he followed a short path that came to a 'T' junction, coming to another stop he looked down each passage.

His lighter showed that both ways were blocked off by a security barrier. Letting out a groan, he made to turn back. He suddenly paused... there was something on the floor by the left passage barrier. He edged a few steps, letting the small flame light up the strange mass. When it came into view he cried out in horror.

(MSP)

 ** _A pair of severed arms lay on the ground, fresh blood trailing from beyond the metal fence_**.

(MSP) _**Kevin MacLeod - Redletter**_

Beast Boy's cry echoed around the tunnel, drooping the lighter and plunging the tunnel into darkness. He had not been expecting something like _this_. Whats more, they weren't just anyone's arms... they were _**Starfire's.** _Cut form just above the elbows, the familiar Tamaranean gauntlets that covered her orange coated skin gave it away. Quickly retrieving the small device from the floor, he lit another flame and stood trembling at the sight. Beast Boy was lost for words. "T-this... this... c-c-can't b-be **happening**!" He stared at the severed appendages, not believing them to be real.

 _They began to move!_

An icy chill shot down his spine, they were _alive_! the hands started to twitch and spasm, like a lizard's severed tail. But how was this even possible?! Starfire never mentioned anything about her people having this kind of ability. The arms then raised up, the hands and fingers supporting them like legs. They turned around and appeared to be staring right back at him. "Eh..." He was unable to form a sentence, for the next thing he knew, they were scurrying towards him like a pair of oversize arachnids.

With a terrified yelp he turned to run, but one arm latched itself to his right ankle! He squirmed. " _Get off'a me_!" He shook and kicked his leg, but the hand had a vice grip on him. He then felt the other arm crawling up his other leg, he tried to fend it off but Starfire's hands moved like rats. The other arm began to mirror it's companion, they crawled up to his stomach, then his chest, then... _**Oh God**_. Beast Boy gave a short-lived scream as hardened fingers clutched at his throat. "Ack! _Guh_...! He grunted as he was pushed up against the wall, his vision staring to cloud over. His legs thrashed about as he thought fiercely, trying to pry the iron gripped limbs off of his windpipe. His green face was starting to turn blue.

The hands tighten their grip every time he tried to exhale. With a last rational thought and a few seconds of air left in his lungs, he lifted his right arm, burning lighter in hand. He aimed for the exposed orange skin protruding out the top of the gauntlet, and shoved the small device into it with force! The left arm instantly went up in flames, making an unearthly noise as it let go and fell to the floor. Feeling his lungs regain air, he re-lit another flame and stuck into the other possessed limb. It let out a loud squeal as it was engulfed in flames, dropping to the ground the two appendages spasmed out for several seconds before succumbing to the flames.

(MSP)

Beast Boy slid down to the floor, coughing and hacking and trying to regain his lungs. "What... the heck... is _going on_...?! He gasped softly between breaths. A small tear escaped his eye. He was so scared and confused at what had happened... nothing made sense anymore. He sat against the wall for a long time, breathing and hopping his windpipe hadn't been bruised. The green teen re-lit another flame to find the two limbs had now turn to ash, the pair of gauntlets were all that remained. He looked at the small lighter he was clutching. The small device had saved his life, considering he'd been in too much shock to shape-shift. Whimpering softly he made to stand up.

 _A crumpled ball of paper landed at his feet_. Beast Boy yelped in surprise, gripping the lighter tightly as if it was his life-preserver. This was followed by fleeing footsteps echoing from his right. He quickly looked towards the opposite passage, but only saw darkness beyond the metal fence. Shivering, he placed the lighter on the ground and reached over to retrieve the discarded paper. Unfolding it and holding it up to the lighter, it showed something he never expected.

 _It was a map of the subway_.

His eyes widening, he studied the whole thing over. Just _who_ had thrown a map to him of all things, and _why_ did they run? he wondered to himself. He picked up the lighter again and hovered it over the map. It looked kinda like the type of map that maintenance workers use. His emerald eyes scanned the map until he noticed a small caption written at the bottom. ' _The service doors at the bottom of the stairs leads to an abandoned platform, and then into the sewers. "Haven't been into the sewers yet?_ "' He stared at that last sentence. Was somebody trying to communicate with him? he couldn't tell.

He slowly stood back up and looked to where Starfire's gauntlets lay motionless. Swallowing, he shifted one of the feminine article with his foot. When they didn't jump up and bite him he took a closer look. They were slightly singed from the fire but still looked fine, the heat resistant material had kept them form burning to a crisp. Picking them up he sniffed for any kind of sent. His elfish ears wilted. Yep. They were definitely Starfire's. His eyes shined with tears. "Star... _what happened to you_...?" Stroking them gingerly, feeling oddly attached to his friends trinkets. Then... _he slipped one of his arms into them_. It took a few moments but eventually his gloved hand reached the exit. He did the same with his other arm and looked at them over. They were clearly made for someone with Starfire's slender structure in mind, since the armored platting was a little tight against his spandex covered skin, but it was bearable. "They're not much... but there all I have for now." He smiled weakly. Turing around he picked up the map and lighter, taking one last look at the blocked off passage before making his way back.

* * *

The TV picture freezes, Arny lowers the remote. "That's part five! cool huh? I think this is where the _true horror_ is startin' to emerge... and it's just gettin' started." He grins darkly. "So anyhow, if ya have time, please follow along and review. In the meantime I'm gonna watch another episode of _CHiPs_." Arny changes the channel to show an over the top car wreck in progress. "Oh, this is _beautiful_!"


	6. Underground Activity

Arny finished his bucket of popcorn as the credits to _CHiPs_ appeared on the TV screen.

"Ah, the good old _Bravo_ channel. Moltar sure had great taste." In the corner of his eye he spotted the audience was present. "Hey, welcome back, I hope you all are enjoyin' the show, cuz the scare factor has just been raised to a whole nother level." He chuckles slyly. "Heh, ooh I haven't had this much fun since the time I did the commentary broadcast at the _Jump City Stadium_."

 **FLASHBACK**

Arny sat in a commentators and booth wearing a headset. "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to our live coverage of this years anal spring classic, the one hundred and second: _Running of the athletes_." He looked through a large window that overlooked a running track. "And what a beautiful day for this sport of kings of which I am a huge fan... no seriously I'm just a _fan_." He shrugs sheepishly. "I was on the way to my seat, the door was open..."

" ** _Hey_**! what are _you_ doing in there?!" An angry voice yelled from outside the booth. "Whoops! gotta run folks!" Arny quickly ditched the headset and fled the booth, disappearing into the crowd.

 **END OF FLASHBACK**

"Yep, great days." Arny smiled fondly at the memory. "Anyhow, lets go see what the Titans will find when they return to the Tower." He changed the channel to the paused video and hit the ' _play'_ button.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 6: _**Underground Activity**_

" _Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you._ " - Joseph Heller

The long drive back to the tower was anything but routine. It was the middle of the day, yet the roads were completely devoid of traffic. The city itself seemed eerily quiet, which put the small group of heroes on edge. Arriving back at the tower they made their way up to the common room. Robin wasted no time in booting up the Titans computer, the large window that doubled for the viewing screen came to life. He quickly started typing at the control panel. A large scaled map of the city appeared on the screen. The young detective then activated the communicator tracking grid, after a few seconds three individually colored circles flashed on the screen, each representing a Titans respective color: Red for Robin, Orange for Starfire and Blue for Raven.

The young detective narrowed his eyes, the map confirmed that they were all present in the tower, but there was no trace of their missing friends. Determined not to let this go unanswered he typed in the coordinates for the abandoned research facility. The map zoomed on it's location. " _Nothing..._ " he muttered. "This doesn't make any sense at all..." Starfire stood by his side. "Where have our friends gone to? they did not do the leaving of that morbid place... where could they be?" She whispered.

"If there really _are_ still inside the facility, then they must be in an area where all signals are impenetrable." Raven stated a possible outcome. Robin stared at screen in deep thought. "Mmm... you know... that just might be a possibility." He turned to face both girls. "That place was built by the military. It's sole purpose was to keep prying eyes away from uncovering the _Gemini project_... whatever _IT_ was..." Robin couldn't explain it but he felt rather unease at wondering just what was going on within the confines of the base. "By the way, how are your powers?" Changing the subject the two girls instantly realized that they'd neglected to test their powers when they left the complex. Raven closed her eyes and focused. Black aura formed on her hands, after a few seconds she let out a gasp of exhaustion, her aura fizzling out. "My powers are returning, but they feel so weak." Starfire tried to light up a star-bolt again. Her hand projected a dimly lit green light, she then felt tiredness and was forced to withdraw. "My powers are also returning, but my energy for star-bolts is low." She sighed with fatigue.

In their current state, Robin made a decision. "I think you two should get some rest, just in case anything else happens. We'll be going into _lock-down_ mode shortly." Raven seemed to agree. "I'm going to my room to meditate, call me if you find anything." She turned and abruptly left the room.

"Friend Robin, do you think it is the wise to follow the message of unknown source?" The purple-skirted girl questioned.

Robin sighed. "Honestly... I'm not sure Star, but for whatever reason someone warned us to stay inside the tower for are own safety... even though this goes against my better judgment, its the only lead we've got." Understanding the circumstances she turned to leave. "I hope you are the right friend." She uttered as she made her own exit.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

(MSP) **_Audionautix - Deep Space_**

Beast Boy hurriedly made his way down the tunnel, clutching the map in his right hand. Eventually, he arrived back at the main lobby. This time nothing had change, which came as a small relief. Unraveling the map again, he scanned the maps layout before re-reading the caption written underneath. "The service doors at the bottom of the stairs?" He repeated to himself. Had he seen some doors that were...? _oh my god_! he _had_ seen a set of doors! but they had been locked when he tried it earlier. "Oh what the heck, I'll just haft'a break them down." He declared. "Not like I'm gonna get busted for damaging the place." He made a stab at a joke, but got no laughs from himself.

Remaining on edge from his early brush with death, Beast Boy advanced to the second square passage and wondered down the the stairwell. He reached the bottom and prepared to shift into a grizzly bear so he could break through the ageing doors. The jade teen's brow furrowed when he reached the brown coated doors. They had been forced open from the inside, as though someone had pride them open with a crowbar. But who? And _why_? Swallowing, Beast Boy reached forward and pulled one of the damaged doors open with one hand. A barley visible path greeted him. He held the lighter in front of him for guidance as he entered the passage. The path lasted only a few yards before he was led to the top of another staircase that descended further into the underground. Letting out an audible groan he pressed on, staying alert at all times.

Clip. _Clop_. Breath. Clip. _Clop_. Breath. Clip. _Clop_. Breath... was the pattern of sounds that echoed around the narrow stairway. After making several right turns he reached the bottom, and found himself standing on the platform of a disused station, just like the map had said. It was a lot _older_ than the stations above, it's walls and floor being made entirely of bricks. It was possibly even older that the city itself and most likely had been abandoned long before everything else. With his lighter in hand he proceeded along the silent platform, staying alert at all time.

After several tense paces he reached the far end of the platform. In front of him was a set of rusted railings that surrounded an open maintenance hole with a ladder leading straight down into the sewers below. " _Aw crud_... I'm getting further and further away from the surface." Beast Boy groaned and looked over towards the disused tracks, trying to see if there was any alternative route, but the tracks ended at a set of old iron buffers. With a defeated sigh he climbed over the railings onto the ladder. Hand over hand, he slowly went down... down... down... the cylinder tube felt like it was getting tighter around him.

Taking another step, he almost lost his footing at the sudden lack of steps. Letting out a yelp as he scrambled to regain his grip, he re-lit the lighter and looked below to discover that the ladder had abruptly ended. The ground bellow was submerged in darkness, there was no way of telling how high up he was. He couldn't risk dropping down in his human form, so he thought for an alternative solution, then an idea hit him. " _Cats_ always land on their _feet!_ " Smiling at his own problem solving, he morphed into a four-legged feline and braced himself as he plummeted towards the ground.

 **SPLASH!**

A pool of murky water broke his fall. Beast Boy thrashed about in his cat form before reverting back to human. Not being prepared for a free bath, he emerged to the surface with a gasp. " _Uggh_! _ewww_... this place _reeks_!" Groaning in disgust, he swam forward a few meters until his hands made contact with a stone structure. He fished around in his pocket and withdrew drew his lighter. Flicking it alight he discovered a set of stairs ascending out of the water. Relived that they were leading _upwards_ he climbed them until he was out of the water.

Reaching the top, he looked down at himself. _He was completely drenched_. Sighing, he took the brief time to change into a dog and shook himself dry of the water. After a few shacks he changed back, now looking allot less waterlogged, he looked ahead to be faced with a narrow, cylinder shaped passage. It looked condemned, just like everything else. To his surprise, it was lit up by a row of overhead ceiling lights. "Huh... must be an emergency power supply somewhere." He guested and stepped through the threshold, looking around carefully.

The passage lead to a boiler room. Three large, metallic pod-shaped machines were aliened on the right hand side of the room, the center one catching his attention. Steam was discharging fiercely from it's pipes, despite being old and rusted, it was _functioning_. "These things sure look dated, but at least they're keepin' the place brighter." He mumbled and turned to enter the second passage.

It lead to a small stair set, climbing up it he found a small service area on a raised platform, surrounded by a barrier. It was littered with items that weren't all that useful. Metal buckets, cardboard boxes, a cabinet mounted on the wall that seem to be rusted shut. Below it was a wooden table where he noticed a discarded fax letter. Curious, he went over to it. Taking a closer look, he was confused by what he'd found.

 _It was an old objectives report.  
_

 **American Red Cross**  
 **06 OCT 2006** _  
_

 **ABC PERSONAL: VICTOR, OLIVER R**

 **1\. SITUATION**  
 _Missing personal following partial meltdown of ENRICO FERMI 1_

 **2\. MISSION**  
a. _Investigate whereabouts of missing workers_

b. _Locate survivors, treat casualties, coordinate extraction_

c. _Mitigate further damaged to reactor_

 **3\. EXECUTION**  
A. _Gain entry to plant grounds_

b. _Conduct investigation_

c. _Use spray paint to mark casualty locations / danger areas_

d. _Report findings_

 **4\. SERVICE SUPPORT  
** a _. None_

 **5\. COMMANDERS NOTE**

 _Oliver,_

 _The cause of these events are unknown, so exercise extra caution in the facility. Any insight you can provide as to the case of this incident would be appreciative, its time to put that education to use! The towns folk are scared, disclosing anything per S.O.P._

 _Be careful!_

 _Jim.  
_  
Beast Boy stood there, trying to contemplate the information it was giving. _Meltdown_? _missing workers_? ** _casualty's_**?! had the city been contaminated or something? rereading the fax again his eyes zeroed in on the date of the letter. " _Huh..._?" Staring at the small detail for a moment, it very suddenly dawned on him.

 _It was dated five days later._

"What the... how can that be _possible_?" He knew for a fact that it had been the first of the month, as he remembered Cyborg tearing off the old calendar sheet for the new month only this morning. "Maybe its just a typo?" He assumed, but with all the strange phenomenons that were happening, he wasn't sure. Placing it back on the table he spotted something that had been mentioned in the fax's description. _A spray paint can_. He picked it up and shock it a few times. It was half full, meaning this 'Oliver' guy had already used it to mark the spots of casualtys. He shivered at the thought. "I better keep this, could use it to mark a route in case I get lost." Feeling satisfied he looked around some more.

(MSP)

 **BLEEEEP! BLEEEEP! BLEEEEP! BLEEEEP!**

The loud sound of an alarm blared through the area. The young changeling was quick to cover his pointed ears.

" _GAH_! IT'S TOO LOUD!" He yelled and took off down the corridor." The noise was ear deafening, he didn't dare morph into something that had a high sense of hearing. "I GOTTA FIND A WAY TO STOP THIS SOMEHOW! Sprinting fast down the narrow hall he was grateful that it was well lit as he could see the various objects that littered the path. Being able to avoid them with ease, he kept his sensitive ears covered as he reached the end of the hall. A pair of open double doors revealed a spacious room. At the far end up another small stair set was a control panel taking up most of the wall. In desperation he ran over to it, his sights instantly setting on a small flashing red light that was next to a pull-back lever, bordered by hazard tape.

Without hesitating he grabbed the lever with one hand and pulled it down. The noise instantly stopped and the red light faded. ' _Alarms Disabled_ ' was now displayed on a nearby monitor. Letting out a breath of relief Beast Boy stood back to get a better look at the panel. It was fully functional with flashing buttons and screens displaying radars. An audible whirling sound kept the place from being silent, which gave the green teen some comfort. On the wall to the right was a row of TV monitors, which were either transmitting static or a small text stating the words... 'OFF LINE'.

Beast boy's eyebrows tilted upwards. "This is no ordinary sewer complex." He frowned. For one, the technology was pretty _old_ , possibly dating back to the 1960's... at least compared to _Cyborgs_ tech. Secondly, why would a sewer need an alarm system? unless it was to do with all the bad guys that seek refuges within the undergrounds of the city, but he doubted it. The Titans would received an alert each time the alarm was triggered, so it had to be a some kind of secret organization that was kept under wraps from the outside world... just like _Project Gemini_. Shacking his head, trying not to be reminded of _that_ _place_. He turned to head back and jolted to a stop.

 _A familiar red substance was spewed across the floor, trailing out of the room._

(MSP) _ **Sinister Dark Ambient Background Music - 3 AM**_

How had he not noticed that earlier? Beast Boy felt another shiver rising within him. Forcing it down he edge towards it, his strong sense of smell soon confirmed that it was exactly what feared. It was _**blood** , _and it was _fresh._ He cautiously followed it through a doorway on the right side of the room. The trail was like a line of paint, as if something or _someone_ had been dragged along here. It continued into the next room, which turned out to be a locker room and was unlit. Taking his lighter out he reignited the small flame.

The trail came to an end about half way into the room. Beast Boy paused when he saw the trail end, a series of blooded footprints were shown walking off towards the back of the room that was obscured by the darkness. Thoroughly creeped out in a way he hadn't felt in a long time, he looked towards the locker that the blood trail had stopped outside. A worn out number '13' was stamped into the ageing metal, along with patches of blood that were still dripping. A silver key was sticking out of the lock, waiting to be turned. Clutching his lighter tightly to use as a defense weapon, he worked with shaky fingers and slowly turned the key. Holding his breath, he pulled the door open with a creak... he was stumped at what he found.

 _It was Robin's utility belt.  
_  
The distinctive color of bright yellow was the giveaway. "How did _this_ get here?" He reached forward with his free hand and pulled it out to examine it _._

(MSP)

 _A loud bang,_ _followed by bricks crumbling came from the darkness._

Beast Boy spun around, startled by the noise. He looked towards the back of the room, but could see nothing. Just then, the sound of slow footsteps made themselves known.

Clomp. _Scraaa_ p. Clomp. _Scraaap_. Clomp. _Scraaap_. Beast Boy felt the hairs on his neck prickle. _Something was moving in the dark_. The nervous teen slowly backed out of the room. He stared at the darkened entrance, keeping a tight grip of his lighter and prepared to shape-shifte. Then a familiar green colored glove grabbed the door frame _._ Immediately realizing it was his missing leader the green teen let out a breath of relief.

"Ruh... Robin? Oh **Dude**! you dunno how happy I am to-!"

He came into view... and Beast Boy suddenly recoiled in fear.

 ** _Robin had been_ _decapitated , yet he was somehow still_** ** _alive._**

(MSP) **_Kevin McLeod - Unseen Horrors_**

"H-his _head_! w-wheres his _**Head**_!" Beast Boy screamed, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. But, it was true. The Boy Wonder was walking towards him, his head had been completely ripped off his shoulders, almost as if it was _bitten_ off. His uniform drenched in fresh blood, his cape was torn in half and he dragged his trademark bo-staff behind him from his left hand.

Despite not having any eyes he seemed to be looking straight at the trembling changeling. Beast Boy noticed the staff's end had been snapped off, revealing a sharp, pointed end tip. He advanced slowly towards, taking aim with the staff like it was a jousting spear. Beast Boy stumbled backwards, trying to put some distance between them.

Robin then lunged towards him, at the speed of an athlete. Beast Boy barley had time to think as dove out of the way from the charging Titan. Robin slid towards a wall, only to recoil by doing a back-flip and landed back on his feet. Taking aim at the green teenager he charge towards him again. Beast Boy stumbled back as Robin rushed him, narrowly missing the spear, he was then pined against the control panel. Robin raised his staff and tried to impale him. Thinking fast he rolled to his right, the staff just catching the side of his shoulder. He winced at the slight pain and tried frantically to fend him of.

Raising his staff again he aimed for Beast Boy's throat, with another fast thinking decision he shielded his throat with his right arm, the staff struck the metal gauntlet on his arm and was deflected. He took that moment to grab the end of the staff and redirect it into a computer monitor behind them. A small explosion of sparks and static was enough to distracted Robin.

Beast Boy's mind race for a solution, as the undead Robin struggled to dislodge his staff from the monitor. He quickly though back to how he defeated Starfire's possessed arms. Diving a hand into his pocket he pulled out the lighter and quickly lit up a flame. He raised it up, making contact with Robin's right arm. Robin jumped back, making a grunting noise and freeing Beast Boy. Standing back up with lighter in hand, he watch the headless Robin clutch it's right am as it slowly began to burn. Now realizing it's weakness he needed something that would make _a lot_ _more_ fire. Something like a gas canister or blow torch or... his eyes widened as he realized he had just the very item to use. Digging into his pocket he took out the spray paint can and shook it a few times.

Holding the can up to the lighter, he pressed the top down and ignited the flame. Robin spun around and was met with a blaze of fire. He let out an inhuman scream as the flames spread across his body. Beast Boy stood back in shock as the headless titan collapsed to the floor, laying sprawled out and slowly incinerated.

(MSP)

The smell of smoke and ash filled the room, Beast Boy quivered with fear and distress. "Why is this happening?" He whispered, tears began to flow from his eyes. A theory he'd come up with from earlier crossed his mind. "Did... did they even... _survive the white blast_?" With no one around to answer he sighed, thinking it was best just to move on. Looking back where the blood trail was he noticed Robin's utility belt lying motionless on ground, having dropped it when the headless Robin attacked. Going over to it and picking it up, he took a closer look. He'd once tried it on before when Robin went away on a quest, though he hadn't really tried any of it's gizmos. "Wonder if any of them still work." Beast Boy gently put around his waist, clicking it closed just above is own belt.

He felt rather silly wearing two belts, but it felt the honorable thing to do. Glancing at Stafire's gauntlets on his arms, it was like he'd reunited his two friends with a part of their respective clothings. Feeling satisfied he looked back at the bo-staff still lodged into the monitor. Deciding it to was to damaged to use, he made towards the next room behind a pair of closed double doors.

* * *

Going in to _'pause'_ mode, Arny sheepishly faces the audience. "I just gotta say, sorry for the long delay. My creators going through a phase of whatchin' old 80s horror movies." Arny shrugs. "Hey, the guys got good taste... so all I can say is... be the first to read and review in the first hour and you get a free packet of _L_ _ard_!" Arny holds up a lard packet in his sleeved hand and smiles widely. "And with that, I'm gonna take my _own_ brake, see ya soon, or maybe in the new year. buh-bye!"


	7. Unseen Presence

Arny sat at his desk with an assortment of metal parts laid in front of him. Raising his long sleeves, he gathered up the parts in his dark energy and began to assemble the parts together.

"Welcome come back people." He spoke without looking up. "Good to see the lot of ya again." The parts connected and made the form of a small robot. His energy fades as he faces the audience. "I'm just gonna give a quick heads up about this chapter, it's gonna mostly focus on the other three Titans within the 'T' tower... but that doesn't mean you'll be safe from the **_horror_**." He smirked sisterly. "Oh, and on a side note, you may have noticed, but the rating on this story is now " ** _M_**." and its gonna wear it like a badge of honor. "

Arny then presses a button on the back of the robot, with a small ' _blip_ ' a red light on it's camera head came to life and it turned to face him. " _What is my purpose_?" It spoke with a male computerized voice. "Pass the remote." Arny ordered it. Turning on it's caterpillar track wheels, it went over to the other end of the desk and retrieved the said item, pulling it back across the table with it's forklift arms. "Thanks a bundle." Arny takes hold of the device and unpaused the TV.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 7: **_Unseen Presence_**

Starfire entered her room, barely able to hover as she reached her circular bed. She lay down on her back, with her head hanging over the foot of the bed. It didn't take long for her seemingly endless energy to reach it's end and she was out like a light. She lay there for what felt like a good fifteen minutes before a light breeze passed through her hair. Being a light sleeper she drifted back to consciousness. She didn't remember opening the window. Where did that breeze come from? had she left her bedroom door open? A growing sense of unease made Starfire open her eyes. Slowly turning her head she discovered her door was in fact shut.

 _A stronger breeze passed through her hair_.

(MSP): **_CO AG - A Gothic Symphony_**

With an involuntary gasp, she sat bolt up. Her temperature dropped ten degrees when she noticed that her closet doors had been opened. A few of her personal belongings now lay scattered across the carpet. Starfire sat silently, looking and listening... but nothing else happened. No sound. No movement and her bedroom was dark and quiet. She ran her hand through her hair, unsure what to make of this strange occurrence. After a few moments of silence she finally regained courage, she stood from her bed and went over to the mess that had been made. Kneeling down she rummaged through the small pile and gathered up a few clothing articles. Purple miniskirts, a red scarf, a green longsleeve jumper that was _far too long_ for her, a pair of blue oven mittens and one of Robin's masks were placed back into her closet.

Turning back she discovered that her jewelry box was hidden under the pile. It lay on it's side with the lid propped open. Surprised by this she bent down and picked up the discarded item. "Oh, I do hope you are not the damaged." She dreaded, sitting back on her bed. She opened it. A tinkling, romantic version of 'Amazing Grace' made itself known. A little ballerina was slowly turning inside the jewelry box. There wasn't much jewelry inside since that wasn't exactly Starfire's _thing_ , but there were a few trinkets that made the box worthwhile. There was also also a handful of photographs that had been taken throughout the years.

Smiling in relief that the small dancer was undamaged she reached in and took out the photos. There were three in total. One was of Cyborg and Beast Boy, they both sported wide grins with Cyborg giving a thumbs up and Beast Boy was giving a double peace sign. She let out a soft giggle at their expressions. The second photograph she had, was that of herself and Raven. It was taken that time they first went to the mall together, they were seated together at a booth in a cafe', Starfire had her arm around Raven's shoulder. Raven was in the process of rolling her eyes but was half-smiling none the less. Who had been behind the camera? she couldn't remember. Sighing fondly she looked at the last photo. Herself and Robin were in the picture which it had been taken last Christmas. They stood in front of a Christmas tree that they'd set up in the Common Room. They were posed happily while holding hands, their fingers interlocked.

 _Another breeze quickly passed through her room, followed by a **SLAM**_!

" _YEEK_!" startled by the noise the tanned alien dropped the pictures and looked towards her closet. It's doors had mysteriously slammed shut. She stared at it for a few seconds, a bread of sweat worked it's way down her temple. "This is starting to feel the most... _creepy_..." She muttered and wiped her forehead. "I must not let it affect my powers though." Taking in a short breath she bent down and retrieved her photos from the floor and took one last look at the Christmas photo. That's when she noticed something was different in the picture.

Blinking a few times, she took a closer look and instantly went pale. "What on _Tamaran_...?" Starfire couldn't even find her voice. Truly disturbed at what she was looking at, she shoved the photos back into the box and slammed it shut. "I'm suddenly feeling the urgent need of the company." Clutching the box tightly under her arm, she leapt from her bed and rushed out of her room.

The nervous redhead ran down the long, empty corridors until she reached the common room. The electric doors slid open to reveal Robin who was still standing at the Titans mainframe. "Robin!" She cried, causing the masked detective to spin round in a heart beat. "Starfire! are you...?" Starfire was slightly discolored, he could see fear in her eyes and was shaking slightly. "What's wrong?!" He held her shoulders, trying to calm her down. "I... I am _not sure_... something has... I cannot do the explaining..." She trembled in his grasp. Concerned for her well fair Robin guided her to the couch and sat her down. "Hey, it's okay Star... just take your time and start from the beginning." He sat next, placing his hand into hers.

Feeling more relaxed she carefully began to explain the strange events that took place in her room. Robin listened closely, his expression looking more concerned by each detail. "...and then I looked at the picture again and... something was not right." Hesitantly she opened the jewelry box and took out the photographs, handing them face down to Robin, not wanting to see the creepy picture again. "Do the looking for your self... but I must warn you... it is... _most disturbing."_ Unsure of what he was about to see, Robin turned the handful of photos over. They looked pretty normal, that was until he got to the last one, upon viewing it his mask seem to double size.

 _One of Starfire's limbs was now missing_.

In the picture her right arm, the one that wasn't holding Robin's hand, was missing from just below her elbow. _It seemed to have just faded out of existence_. Whats more, in it's place was a shadow with long slender fingers casting on the wall just behind her. The shadow as a whole didn't seem to match her usual Tamaranean uniform. It looked more like the shadow was wearing a long dress. Robin felt confusion and unease wash over him as he was well and truly stumped. He shared a distressed look with his troubled teammate as silence filled the room.

(MSP)

Raven sat quietly in her room, she'd been trying to meditating for the last fifteen minutes, but failed. The haunting voice messages from earlier would repeat themselves in her head. _what did they all mean_? and just _who_ were these people? on top of all that, two of her teammates were currently missing in action. That thought alone was beginning to bother her more than it should... just were could they be?

 _A distant feminine scream came from outside her room.  
_

Raven snapped back to reality, pupils dilated and breathing heavily. "What was _that..."_ She whispered, uncertain if her ears were playing tricks on her. She quickly leapt from her bed and ran towards her door. It slid open to reveal an empty corridor. the dark girl took a look around as she tried to settle her uneven breath.

 _Another distant scream came from her left at the end of the corridor_.

(MSP): _**Sinister Dark Ambient Background Music - Poltergeist Opening Track**_

Raven's heart did a flip-flop at the sound. OK, she _**definitely**_ heard something that time. Raven instantly flipped open her communicator. " _Robin_! come in! this is _urgent_!" The Boy Wonders face appeared on the small circular screen. "Raven, what's wrong?!" He expressed with a look of concern. "I'm not entirely sure but... there's a _strange noise_ coming from somewhere in the tower." Robin raised an eyebrow. "A noise? what kind of noise?"

 _A third scream was heard in the distance_.

" _That_ kind of noise." She answered stoically. The Boy Wonder was taken back by what he just heard, coming back to his sense he made a quick decision. "Alright, stay where you are, we're on our way." The transmission ended. Raven, summoning her legendary courage, faced the direction of screams and slowly advanced towards the end of the hall. By the time she reached the end Robin and Starfire had arrived. They came to a halt as another scream was heard.

"W-What is m-making that h-horrid noise?" The alien princess stuttered in fear. "I dunno Star..." Robin admitted. "We're just gonna have to investigate." He stated and reached into his belt, deployed his bo-staff. He peaked his head around the corner, when found it to be clear he signaled to his teammates. "C'mon, lets got." The trio of teens advanced into the next hall, with the screams getting louder as they neared it's source. Eventually they found themselves in a corridor that lead to the one room in the tower that nobody could possible be in. " _Terra's old room_." Raven whispered.

The screams were now louder than ever, yet muffled behind the door. Something in Terra's room was giving off light. The light was peeking through a crack under the door, blinking with a fizzing, popping sound. What was it? was it even safe to go in? deciding they weren't getting anywhere fast by just standing there, Starfire and Raven readied themselves for an attack as Robin kicked the door in. " _Freeze_!" Robin shouted.

The other two titans boiled into the room, starbolts and dark magic were at the ready. A tornado had paid a visit to Terra's room. All the furniture had been turned upside down, the carpet had been ripped up, parts of the ceiling were hanging down and the lights were flickering... but nobody was in there. They all stood in a defense formation for a few seconds, but there was no threat.

 _The room had mysteriously gone silent_.

" _Wow_..." Raven uttered, unable to find any words to describe the situation. "R-Robin... I-I am... t-the officially... _freaked out_ now." Starfire visibly shook. Robin looked across the destruction before them, unsure if he just saw a metal panel fuse itself back onto the wall in the far corner of the room. Re-tracking his bo-staff he turned round and quickly ushered the two girls out of the room, slamming the door behind them.

(MSP)

"Raven, were you able to sense anything that was in Terra's room?" Robin asked warily. Raven shook her head. "No. Whatever was in there moved to fast for my powers to detect it." Her masked leader sighed. "Alright, lets all go back to the Common Room. We all stay together in-case of any other... _incidents._ " He cast an uneasy glance at Terra's door, feeling rather high strung at what he'd witnessed. With all in agreement they made their way back.

* * *

With the press of a button the TV pauses. "That's the end of part seven. Sorry if it's a little short, but that's a small price to pay for a lot of _sleepless nights_." Arny shrugs innocently as the small robot appeared before him. " _What is my purpose_?" It spoke in it's computerized voice. Arny glanced at it with a bored expression. "You pass the remote." It looks down at it's tiny forklift arms, realization dawns upon it as it has an existential crisis. " _Oh my god_." Arny nonchalantly agrees. "Yep, that makes two of us pale."


	8. Tunnels Of The Damned

Arny sat boredly as he flicked through the channels on the TV.

 _Click!_ ' _To start, press any key. Where's the "Any" Key_?' "Seen it."

 _Click!_ ' _The City of Townsville_.' "Seen it."

 _Click!_ ' _I'm sheriff John Bunnell_.' "Seen it."

 _Click!_ ' _Ah ain't gettin' on no plane Hannibal_!' "Seen it."

 _Click!_ the next channel showed a paused video feed. "Hey I ain't seen _this_ , must be time to start the next chapter, so lets get right back to it!" He quickly hits ' _Play_ ' on the remote.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 8: _ **Tunnels Of The Damned  
**_

(MSP) _**Haunting Atmospheric Soundscape - Nothing in here is quite how it seems**_

Beast Boy trundled down another darkened tunnel, this one looked more like a traditional sewer system. Large puddles of water would appear frequently across the concert floor, a row of overhead pipes on each side were constantly rattling, and a... suspicious _whistling_ just somewhere of in the distance.

Remaining on full alert he clutched his left shoulder where the bo-staff had torn through his spandex. The cut wasn't deep but it had drawn some blood. He whimpered softly, hoping it wouldn't get infected as he was practically surrounded by bacteria. As he explored further into the underground he would now and then come across various markings on the walls. They consisted of large 'X's sprayed in orange paint. Beast Boy remembered the letter from earlier, something about Oliver having to mark the locations of casualtys... was this evidence that he was going to encounter more undead victums? Deciding he didn't want to know, he soldiered on.

A few echoing steps further on he was drawn to a piece of paper stuck to the wall. "Hmm...?" He took hold of it, finding it to be a message written in blue felt tip, it was from a man named ' _Phil_.'

 _Hank, I'm not sure whats going on, all I'm getting is static on the radio_...

 _And you said we'd never need theses notepads HA_!

"Must'a been one of the workers." He said allowed. Discarding the letter aside he moved forward, turning a corner he came across another piece of paper stuck to the wall:

 _Dammit, Hank. Tell me again why we didn't bring ACTUAL flashlights down here? These shitty glowsticks wont last long._

- _Phil_

Glowsticks? that's all they were using for guidance down here? Beast Boy bit his lip, wondering if it was safe to stay in one place for very long. The distant whistling kept him on edge. It was a low key whistle but his sensitive ears were easily picking it up in even intervals. He couldn't tell if was a breeze or human for that matter. Heaving a sigh he continued exploring, that was until he spotted a third note on the other wall. This one was different, as it was written in black felt tip and in all higher case letters.

 **PHIL, IF YOU SEE THIS, MY RADIO IS BUSTED-**

 **HEADING BACK TO THE ACCESS LADDER TO GRAB A REPLACEMENT.**

 **-** ** _HANK_**

"Hank...?" Beast Boy mumbled, realizing this to be a message from the _other_ worker that Phil had been leaving notes for. Putting the letter down, he continued onward. The tunnel then came to a crossroad section. Staying close to the left wall, Beast Boy edged cautiously towards it, holding his lighter out above him. Reaching the destination, he peaked his head into the opening and glanced both ways. Each passage was just as dark and foreboding as the other. He stood stock-still for a moment, listening out for any signs of danger. The whistle now seemed to be coming from the passage to his right. Unsure of whether it would lead to something bad he decided to keep going forward. How many tunnels were in this sewer? they must all lead somewhere, but... Beast Boy got his answer and was torn from his thoughts. The path ended at a large open room.

(MSP)

The sound of functioning machinery filling his ears as two big pipes with enormous valves on then came into sight. Entering the room he was greeted to several pod-shaped machines and rows of pipes that ran up from the ground and along the ceiling. "Some kinda underground pumping station?" He guessed, looking over the ancient technology. His eyes then spotted another note stuck to one of the metal pods:

 **DAMMIT, AT THE LADDER AGAIN, BUT FORGOT THE KEYS TO THE ACCESS GATE... AND I'M ON MY LAST GLOWSTICK. THERE'S NO WAY I'LL BE ABLE TO FIND THEM WITHOUT THE EXTRA LIGHT.**

 **-** ** _HANK_**

Beast Boy looked around the room, finding it to be square shaped with only one entrance. His foot hit something which rolled across the floor with the sound of plastic. Gripping his lighter in one hand he knelt down and examined it. A long cylinder shaped tube lay before him. It was a _Glowstick_. Licking his lips, Beast Boy picked it up and shook it a few times. A bright beam of green light pierced through the darkness, momentarily dazzling him. He blinked several times and aimed it away from his face. The light was still good enough to be used. "Wonder why you were left behind here?" The green teen mumbled. Satisfied that he now had a better light source, he pocketed the lighter and made his way out. The noise from machinery slowly faded as he backtracked down the tunnel. He ponder on which direction he should take as he approached the crossroads.

 _Something on four legs ran across the junction from the left passage.  
_  
Beast Boy froze on the spot, his breath catching in his throat. The brief sound of something scurrying away was heard. "This feels... _familiar_." He whispered. Finding his footing again he hesitantly edged towards it, holding the glowstick above him like a baton he poked his head round the corner. Darkness instantly greeted him, he shone the glowstick into the tunnel and waited a few seconds. When nothing jumped out at him, he stepped into the opening. That's when he immediately saw another message stuck to the wall. This time is was from Phil:

 _Hank, where are you? Are you getting my notes? I don't even know where I am. I think there's something down here with us._  
 _Where the hell is the water pump room again?_

- _Phil_

(MSP) _**Haunting Atmospheric Soundscape - Nothing in here is quite how it seems**_

Water pump room? wasn't that where he just was? Beast Boy heaved a troubled sigh. He could hear the distant whistle make itself known again, this time though... _it was coming from ahead_. Swallowing, he made his way forward. The passage lead on for sometime, every now and then he'd come across more 'X's sprayed onto the walls. He then began to notice that they were becoming more frequent. As he turned a corner he encountered a _fifth_ letter...

 **I'M TAKING A LOT MORE TURNS TO GET TO THE WATER PUMP ROOM THAN I REMEMBER.  
THERE'S SOMETHING DEFINITELY FOLLOWING ME. I SWEAR IF THAT'S YOU PHIL, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU.**

Beast Boy would have almost laughed if it wasn't for the growing paranoia that was starting to sink in. He moved onward, the though of something creeping up behind him lingered in his mind. The tunnel continued on for what felt like miles, with each turn being incredibly tense. The next note he discovered was again from Hank, but the handwriting had changed. It seemed quicker, more messy. As though he'd been in a hurry writing it.

 **DEFINITELY HEARD SOME HOWLING/SCREAMING ...** ** _SOMETHING_** **.**

 **STILL CAN'T FIND MY KEYS... OR ANYTHING.**  
 **I HOPE YOUR GETTING THESE MESSAGES PHIL.**

 **-** ** _HANK_**

Beast Boy paused, wondering just how long ago these messages were written. Were they even sending him in the right direction? he couldn't tell. Turning back towards the darkness he continued on until he reached another sharp corner. He gasped when he got a better look at the opposite wall. _A gaping hole had been clawed into the concrete..._ deeply shaken by whatever could have made _this..._ he approached it to have a better a look. The hole was an entrance to a small carved out tunnel, just big enough for him to fit through. How far did it go? he couldn't see where it lead... but the strange whistling seemed to be coming from within it. He backed away from it, debating on whether it was safe to use or not.

" _Eeeeesssssseeeeeeaaaaaaanaaaaa_... **.** " Beast Boy went pale and whirled around. His glowstick lanced towards the path to his right. It was a sound he hadn't heard in while, a whisper that made no sense. He trembled physical as his mined raced for a decision. This was followed by the sound of something metal striking the ground from behind him. He jumped and quickly decided on the dug tunnel, crouching down he crawled into the narrow passage. It went on for what felt like miles, he could have easily morphed into a smaller animal, but that would mean leaving all his items behind. The last thing he wanted was to be defenseless in complete darkness. Eventually he arrived at the end of the tunnel, crawling out slowly, he found himself in another sewer tunnel. Standing up to face the wall, he was met with a _sixth_ note just above the hole...

(MSP)

 _It feels like I'm walking in circles... that or the walls are moving on me.  
I think I took a wrong turn. I don't remember all the damn gates. And where the hell did those giant holes in the wall come from?_

- _Phil_

Beast Boy felt like this Phil guy was speaking his mind, it was almost uncanny. He shuddered slightly, looking back towards the next passage. He listened carefully but could no longer hear the mysterious whistle. Just then, his ears picked up some movement further ahead. Shining the glowstick in the direction, he held his breath as he caught sight of something that looked like an animal fleeing into the darkness. This rather confused the young shape-shifter. Why did it flee from him? was it the same unknown animal from earlier? or the one he and Cyborg saw... _Cyborg_! he'd gone and left him alone and vulnerable in that nightmare of a city above. There's no telling what might have happen to him... Beast Boy shook his head to get the thought out. Now filled with a sense of guilt for leaving his friend, he began his journey down the next path. He walked for no less than a minute before he found yet another one of Hanks messages.

 **I THINK I JUST SAW SOMETHING CRAWL INTO THOSE DIRT TUNNELS...**  
 **I WOULDN'T GO IN THERE IF I WERE YOU.**  
 **LOOKED LIKE A GIANT RAT ...OR BIRD. SOMETHING WEIRD.**

 **-** ** _HANK_**

(MSP) _ **Dark Ambient Haunting Atmospheric Soundscape - So Cold**_

The feeling of guilt was now replaced with the paranoia that loomed over the jade colored teen. Apparently whatever Hank saw maybe still lurking around within the confines of the sewer system. He listened again for anymore noise, but only got silence... _deafening silence_. There was no more rattles of pipes or drips of water. It felt more like a _tomb_. He shivered at the thought, swallowing. He got back to following the path, but it wasn't long before he found the next entry left by Hank:

 **PHIL, I DON'T KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED. IT SNUCK UP RIGHT BEHIND ME. I KNEW I WAS GOING TO DIE SO I JUST STOOD THERE. I DON'T THINK IT COULD SEE ME.**

 **STAY SAFE.**

" _Raaaaaasaaaaaooooohraaaaaaseeeeeeeth_... **.** " The whisper form before echoed around the passage. Beast Boy's breathing became quick and uneven. The walls seemed to grow darker by an unknown presence. He clenched his teeth and started walking at a quicker pace. What _was_ it? where was it _coming from_? with his heart pounding, he contemplated on whether to shifting into something that had a high speed advantage. Before he could, he caught sight of another entry. Without stopping, he tore it from the wall.

 ** _DON'T_** ** _EVER LOOK BACK_**

 ** _DON'T_** ** _FOLLOW THE PIPES_**

 ** _THE_** ** _WHISPERS LIE_**

He gasped, a bread of sweat working it's way down his face. This wasn't a message detailing the events, this was an urgent warning of _survival_. The whisper seemed to get louder. Hanks words began repeating themselves inside his head, he went from a fast pace walk to a full out sprint. Not even daring to look back. The path lead on for at least another minute, but it felt like an eternity. Beast Boy was starting to think that he was running in circles, in an endless loop forever. Just then, he was forced to an abrupt halt as he was faced with a large gate. It was an old iron bar gate, covered with rust and took up the whole tunnel. Beast Boy's eyes widened in realization. " _ **The Access Gate**_!" Not only that, there was a set of _keys_ hanging out of it's lock, much to his surprises. Without a second though he turned the keys in the old style lock. The tumblers in the lock cranked with age, and the gate swung open.

Beyond the gate was an open room with a ladder leading straight up mounted to one of the walls. Seeing a possible chance of escape he ran over to it and started climbing. Looking upwards he saw that it was a _very long_ ladder, possibly leading all the way up to the surface... _at least that's what he hoped_. As he climbed higher and higher his mind went back to the set of keys that where in the gates lock. Weren't those _Hanks_ keys? the ones he'd lost? did Hank and Phil even get outta this place? from what they'd left behind he wasn't so sure... he continued with the step climb up, preparing for whatever he would find waiting at the top.

(MSP)

* * *

Pausing the TV Arny looks towards the audience. "Yes, yes I know. Another long delay, but maybe it's for the better. My creator's mind takes a lot of inspiration, but has a hard time when comes to putting it into words." Arny then puts on a pair of oversized glasses. "And ya know what they say... _A mind is a terrible organ to shovel_. So I hope you guys can stick around for more, and leave a review if you have the time. Join me in part nine, cuz it's comin' soon. Later!"


	9. Quarantine

Back at the **Ghost Industries** , Arny is seen placing an old machine on his desk. It was cream in color and equipped with a button pad, a phone number display and a built in tape recorder. He looks up to see he had company.

"Ah, hey there. I was just checkin' out Moltar's control room when I found _this_ forgotten gem stashed behind the system. An _AT-5000 Autodialer_." He proudly proclaimed. And I'm gonna use this to help gain some progression by making a telemarketing ad." He sit down at his desk and grabs the remote. "In the meantime, lets go back and see what the _other_ Titans are up to." He points the device and unpauses the TV.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 9: **_Quarantine_**

The three Titans made the long walk back towards the common room. Turning into the hallway that lead to the automatic doors, they came to a pause. A distant, electronic bleeping noise was coming from beyond the doors. "That sounds like the computer!" The spiky haired teen rushed forward, immediately followed by his female comrades. The doors slide open and they all gathered into the main room. They were startled to see an alert message appear on the large monitor. 'EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM' was displayed in red text across the screen. Below it were the words: 'THIS IS NOT A TEST' in a small white text.

(MSP) _**Kevin MacLeod - Echoes of Time v2**_

They all stared immensely at the screen, knowing fully well that _this_ message only ever appeared when the city was in **_Huge_** jeopardy. Before anyone could utter a word the bleeping noise then changed to what sounded like a dial tone. Was somebody trying to make contact with them? they soon got an answer when a male voice spoke.

' _This is a national television broadcast from the US Department of paranormal activity in research and containment. Do not turn of your television and await instructions._ '

Starfire and Raven shared a anxious glance while Robin held a look of puzzlement. New text appeared on the monitor as the voice continued.

 _ **CLASS**_ : _Not organic_.

 _ **THREAT**_ : _PA 071-B may result in loss of human life_.

 _ **DESCRIPTION**_ : _Condensation will gather on all windows and mirrors of your home, wiping it off or revealing the outside world in away will result in the revealing of PA 071-B. Looking upon 071-B will result in insanity before suicide or homicidal rage before spontaneous death_.

 _Please follow these instructions to minimize the loss of human life_ :

 ** _Close all windows and doors_**

 ** _Do not leave your home_**

 ** _Do not remove condensation  
from you windows/mirrors_**

 ** _If condensation is somehow removed,  
do not look out the window/into the mirror_**

 **'** ** _Keep you television turned on and await further instructions_**.'

The screen very suddenly went black, terminating the broadcast and leaving the Titans in total silence. Robin stared at the blank monitor, his jaw falling slightly. A distressing thought suddenly entered his head. They'd all completely overlooked the possibility that _something_ may have been released from the vault. Something they couldn't even see... something _deadly_.

(MSP)

"R- _Robin_...?" Starfire's soft yet shaky voice broke the silence. Robin lowered his head and sighed. "It's okay, whatever it is we're dealing with, we will get through it. I promise." He advised them without turning round. "What on _Azar_...?" Raven's shocked response caused him to look back and see both girls staring out the main window, their mouths were agape as Starfire slowly pointed to something far off in the distance. Robin quickly joined them and followed their eyes to the direction of the city.

 _ **Kevin MacLeod - Blue Sizzle**_  
 _  
_The sky above the city had gone dark very suddenly at an unnatural speed, it was like something larger than life was looming over the city. Clouds billowed on the horizon and lightning played across the sky. Flashes of light and rolls of thunder rocked the tower, Robin and the girls were thrown off their feet. It started pouring down rain, beating against the windows of the common room. Starfire and Raven huddled together as the floor continued to vibrate, they suddenly heard a loud _cracking_ sound.

 _The glass was beginning to break!_

" _Robin_..." Raven stressed. "I know! I'm gonna activate the lock-down! just hang on!" Robin staggered to his feet and grabbed onto the control panel, he began typing rapidly at the keyboard as the tower shook around him. The cracks were getting bigger and began spreading across the entire windows. Raven held her breath while Starfire clutched hold of her cape in fear. The rain was beating harder and harder, with small drips of it leaking through the thin cracks."ROBIN!" Starfire started to panic. "I'm almost there! just a few more seconds!" He yelled back as he frantically typed at the computer. "We don't _have_ _a few seconds_!" Raven gritted her teeth. Just then the overhead klaxons sounded and the entire room started flashing red. A large number 10 appeared on the monitor, accompanied by a computerized voice stating that the lock-down had begun.

"ARIGHT! WE'VE GOT TEN SECONDS! HOPEFULLY THE GLASS WILL HOLD!" Robin yelled over the noise. He ran over to his teammates and helped them to their feet. They stumbled and struggled to stay up as they ran across the rumbling floor, just as they reached the sliding doors there was a loud shattering noise from behind. Without looking back they threw themselves through the threshold and into the awaiting corridor.

Landing in a jumbled mess, the double doors slammed shut almost instantly behind them. The sirens continued to blair around them, they clung to the floor for protection as it continued to vibrate. Eventually after what felt like an eternity, the sirens ceased and to their surprise the rumbling almost immediately stopped. The three Titans lay motionless for at least over a minute.

(MSP)

"H-has it... s-stopped?" Muttered a stricken Starfire. Robin raised his head and listened for any more noises, but there wasn't any. "Yeah... I think so Star." Forcing himself to stand, her offered Starfire a hand and helped her up. "The lock-down should have engaged itself by now." Raven was the last to stand, she held her head with one hand, massaging her temple. "Yeah... but we better make sure of it first." She insisted and Robin agreed. The electric doors swished open and revealed that the lock-down was enabled, much to the Titans relief.

(MSP) _**Kevin MacLeod - Aftermath  
**_  
A large armor-plated shutter in the familiar white and blue colors of Cyborg's technology, covered the entire windows. The Titans made their way towards it but were suddenly stopped by a distressing sight. A large puddle of water covered half of the common room. The windows had shattered just five seconds before the lock-down, the pieces strewn across the floor. "Looks like we'll have to clean this up later." Robin sighed. Stepping cautiously over the shards of glass, Robin inspected the reinforced shutter. There was no sigh of any leaks and it seamed to be sturdy enough. As he stood close to the metal structure, it suddenly dawned on the young detective that something was noticeably absent. He leaned close, pressing his right ear up against the shutter and listened for a few seconds. "Hmm... that's strange."

"Is there something wrong friend Robin?" Starfire asked curiously. "I don't know why, but I can't hear the rain." The two girls now shared looks of confusion. "Um... why is that the strange friend?" Robin backed away from the door and turned to face the alien girl. "When I helped Cyborg build the tower, he told me that he designed the lock-down system to withstand an attack _the size of a **nuclear blast**_. He built it to absorb heavy impacts, but... he didn't make it _soundproof_." His teammates paused as they realized that what their leader was saying was true, a rainstorm this fierce would have been _very_ noticeable, even when obscured by several tuns of armored platting.

"Maybe it was just the passing of showers?" Starfire spoke logically. Raven shook her head. "No, that was no ordinary rainstorm. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and yet it came from nowhere in a matter of seconds, and was strong enough to damage the tower. Storms like that don't just pass over quickly. This was something... **supernatural**." The common room fell into silence again, with no one able to come up with a better answer.

(MSP)

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Beast Boy had been climbing the step ladder for a good few minutes. The unseen whispers had long since stopped, leaving only the sound of water endlessly dripping around him. Moving at a slow pace he took a firm grip on the glowstick and held it above him. Squinting through it's green glow, he almost dropped it when the words: 'J.C. WATER DEPT' came into view. " _A_ _manhole cover_." He whispered, putting the stick away and climbing up the reaming steps. He placed a hand on the underside of the cover and pushed himself up. Groaning in effort, the cover slowly lifted up until it was half open.

Beast Boy raised his head up to be meet with a slight breeze of the outside air. " _Yes_! I made it!" Feeling refreshed that he had finally made it back to the surface, Beast Boy emerged from the hole, the lid falling shut behind him. Standing up he discovered that he was in a different part of the city. He was now standing in the middle of an empty three-way intersection, but each route only lead to a thick wall of fog. Sighing he turned around to be faced with the front entrance gates to a building that both confused and unnerved him.

 _He was outside the Murakami High School_.

Beast Boy swallowed a lump in his throat, having recognized it as the school that Terra now attended. Why of all places was he lead _here_? seeing this place again brought back some memories that he'd rather not think about. Shaking his head and deciding it was better to not risk getting lost in the fog, he edged forward, passing through the front gates of the school. As the buildings entrance came into view he stopped almost instantly.

From behind one of the front doors, a darkly dressed figure was staring at him. It swiftly ducked back inside slamming the door shut. Beast Boy felt a sudden chill, was that the same figure that ran into the subway? was he being _followed_? or was he being _lead_ somewhere? shuddering, he proceed towards the school.

* * *

With the TV pausing again, Arny faces the views. "Welp, this a good time to stop and show y'all the telemarketing message I've made." Arny motions towards the autodialer. "I'll show you how it works. Despite it's age, this baby still has every phone number in the city _programed_ into it, it automatically calls them _one-by-one_ and plays a pre-recorded message. Listen..." He presses the ' _Dial_ ' button and his message begins.

' _Greetings friend, do you wish to be as happy as me? welp you've got the power inside you right now! so **use it!** and send one review to Arny-the-Entity. Ghost Planet Industries Jump City. Don't Delay! enteral happiness is just a review away.' _

The message ends and Arny leans back in his chair with his arms folded. "Heh, heh now I just sit by the mail box and watch the reviews role in."


	10. The Institution

Just outside the **Ghost Industries** , an old chevy el camino careered round the corner and skidded to a stop near the buildings entrance. The driver's door opens and out jumps Arny. He rushes over to a nearby mail box, flipping the lid down he reaches inside and pulls out a letter. The address read out:

"ARNY-THE-ENTITY"  
GHOST PLANET INDUSTRIES  
JUMP CITY, USA

Without sparing a thought he torn open the letter, two small pieces of paper fell into his sleeved palm. "Alright! A review and a follower! It's **_working_**!" Arny exclaimed triumphantly. He then entered the studio and hurriedly made his way through the building. Finlay arriving back at his desk, he slid onto the chair and snatched up the remote. "Lets get right back to it! been waitin' on this thing for _far to long_ now!" Taking aim at the TV screen he unpaused it.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 10: **_The Institution_**

" _If you gaze long enough into the abyss,_ _the abyss will gaze right back_." - Friedrich Nietzsche

(MSP) **_Audionautix - Deep Space_**

Beast Boy warily approached the schools main entrance. His heart still pounding, he prepared for the worst and shoved one of the doors open. Inside he was met with an empty and mostly darkened lobby, with no traces of life. "Just like everywhere else." Beast Boy whispered, still on edge from the whispering _thing_ in the sewers. He still didn't know what had happened to the city... if he could even call it a city. Trying not to think about it that way, he shook the glowstick into to life, aiming it across the lobby.

It looked normal enough, just... elderly, like it hadn't been touched in ages. He took a few steps forward when something on a nearby wall caught his eye. Of all things, an _inside map_ of the school was displayed on the wall behind a plastic coating. Beast Boy reached up and wiped most of the dust from it. The map showed that the school was divided into three main sections, the areas included: ' _New Library_ ', ' _Labs_ ' and ' _Old School'_. The school was actually a pretty large campus, considering if it only had a full student body of only twelve or thirteen hundred. Putting this little detail aside, Beast Boy wondered on where he should go next? there were two connecting corridors that lead to different sections, while the back of the lobby lead to the teachers offices. Deciding on the fact that he was close to them he made a move towards the offices.

Beast Boy's brow furrowed when he got to the back of the lobby. A single door had been left wide open, it was one of those reinforced safety doors that are required to be kept shut at all times in case of a fire. BB wondered why it had been left open, but was glad that he didn't have to find a key or something. Stepping passed the open door, a corridor that was a lined with seven doors on the left side met him. He slowly progressed forward, all of the doors were open and he cautiously shone his glowstick around as he searched each room. Most of the rooms held little interest, they were just basic school offices, all of which held little to no information of who they belonged to. Advancing further on he became uncomfortably aware of the weird feeling of walking through an environment, that used to be bustling with people... only to be quieter now _than a_ _cemetery_.

Pushing that though from his mind, he came to a small junction where another corridor connected. Poking his head around the corner, he was met with a shorter corridor, this one only having two doors on the far left side. There was also a fairly large fax machine that stood against the wall. "Hmm... didn't know people still used these." He mumbled. Walking into the hall, he licked his dry lips as he came upon the first door. The name 'ROBERT' was written on a small plastic label, screwed neatly into the door. He tried the handle but he found it to be locked. A little puzzled by this, he looked over at the neighboring door, this one showcased the name 'ALAN' and had been left slightly ajar. He pushed it open to find another room full of mostly office stuff, but as he looked around he picked up a soft, barley audible whirring sound. The computer monitor on the desk lit up, startling him. But, what was even more startling... it was **on**. Coming closer, he studied the screen. It was on some sort of word processor. The message on it was brief:

 _ **I see you**_...

(MSP) _ **Soundscape for scary stories - Haunting**_

Beast Boy stared at the screen, his jaw falling slightly. "W-who typed this?" He murmured. But wait... if the power was out why was it on? Beast Boy followed it's wires for an electrical outlet. He found none, so... maybe it had some kind of internal battery? He didn't know. Taking a look around the office, the desk was littered with office supplies. Pencils, pens, guide books, a stapler, an empty coffee mug and soda can, an old vintage radio, etc. A not pad was placed next to the keyboard, with a short sentence written at the top.

 _I wonder where Robert went? One day he was here, and suddenly just vanishes and stops coming into work._

"The guy next door _disappeared_?" Thinking back to notes left by the lost workers from the sewer, he searched for more clues. There was a small set of draws sitting under the desk, and he opened thous as well. From inside the third draw he pulled out a huge key-chain with about ten to twenty keys on it. They made a jingle sound as he examined them. "These might come in handy." Beast Boy whispered.

An electronic noise came from down the corridor. Beast Boy jumped and spun round, ready to protect himself. Seeing no one there he slowly glanced around the door frame. It was... _the fax machine_? He left the office and went over to take a look. It was printing out a fax _all by itself_. When it finished he took hold of the fax and read it.

 _You got the keys to the kingdom right there. Any door that don't open, you_ _ **don't**_ _want to go in it._

Beast Boy swallowed a lump in his throat, having that feeling, when you know you're totally alone, and nobody can see you, but you feel eyes on you? Have you ever gone left instead of right, because you got a feeling that you just shouldn't go to the right today?

His eyes narrowing, Beast Boy stuck the fax into a nearby waste basket. "Creepy." He murmured and began to look through the key-chain. A few of them were labeled with felt tip markers while the others were just plain bronze or silver. The letters 'ROB OFCE' caught his attention. "This one must be for _Robert's_ office... these must be a set of _master keys_." He figured and took hold of said key, he inserted it. The lock turned and the door sprang open. Beast Boy jumped back but found no threat so he relaxed. Swallowing, he made his way inside. Unlike Alan's office Robert's computer was turned off, and his desk held only a few items. A telephone, a desk lamp that had a cracked bulb, a few cardboard files, a small plant that had long since wilted... _an Ouija Board_. Beast Boy paused at the last item. There was no mistaking it. A rectangular board showcasing all the letters from A to Z in an arch form, along with a row of numbers form 0 to 10.

Why on earth would he keep an **Ouija** **Board** in his office? or in a _school_ for that matter? more disturbingly, a pentagram had been painted over the board in a substance that reminded him of dried blood. Trying not to think about it, he turned to find something equally distressing. A white board stood fixed to the wall before him. Three messages had been written on it, each in a different font style.

 **I HEAR HER KNOCKS ON THE DOOR!  
**  
 _SHE'S COMING CLOSER_...  
 _  
_A GHOST?

OR THE DEVIL IN VEIL? _  
_  
Devil in veil? had this man _seen_ something? just _who_ was he talking about? Beast Boy bit his lip. He was still no closer to finding what exactly had happened to the city, all he did know was the city was abandoned, an unknown force had taken over, he had a teammate down, the others were missing, someone or _something_ was watching him and he still had no clue what he was up against. "I just wish I could find -!"

 _The phone rang._

Beast Boy jumped, whirling around. The telephone on Robert's desk was ringing. But... the power was out... wait, weren't phone lines separate from electrical lines? or where they? He didn't know, but moved to answer it. It could be a trick... it could be a trap... but the phone was ringing, and all phones need to be answered eventually. Licking his dry lips, Beast Boy picked it up off the receiver, placing it near his ear. "H... _Hello_? he whispered.

" _Haaaaaseeeeeooooooraaaaaaseeeeeth..._ " A whisper answered him. Beast Boy turned pale, it was the same whispers from before. " _ **I**_ _..._ _ **See**_ _..._ _ **You**_ _..._ " The line went dead after that. Beast Boy stared at the phone itself. He hadn't recognized the added voice at all. It sounded feminine... could it of been the voice of the so called ' _Devil in Vial_?' God, it sounded so _real..._ his hand shaking, Beast Boy hung up the phone. "It's just trying to scare me..." He whispered, looking at the phone as if it might talk back. Regaining some confidence, he squared his shoulders and left the office.

(MSP)

Making his way carefully back to the main lobby, he took another look at the inside map he'd found earlier. With the now given ability to unlock every door in the campus, Beast Boy began to explore. Starting with the corridor that led to the ' _New Library_ ' he opened each room, each closet, making a map in his head of where everything was.

(MSP) **_Audionautix - Deep Space_**

The ' _New Library'_ had long since lost its ' _new_ _'_ look, built in the late 90s boom, and made in that unique red-brick-and-glass style like everything else during those years. After a long search, had cleared all the rooms in the library. It was pretty and ultimately unimpressive. A number of books, papers and supplies had been left strewn about the place, as if there had been a mad rush of Finals just before the campus was deserted. A door on the left by the entrance opened fairly easily, onto a storage closet. There were stacks of late Sixties-era books, a few desks and a decaying mop in it's bucket. The reception desk stood vacant, with the swivel chair fallen on it's side. Walking over to it, he was confronted with something unexpected.

CHECK THE DRAWER

THE LIGHT IS YOUR FRIEND

/ROBERT

It was scribbled on a white piece of paper in all capitals. Beast Boy noticed an uncapped marker pen laying next to it. "Eh...?" Surprised to find a note detailing instructions, Beast Boy circled around the reception desk to find a set of three draws, he searched through them until he found the item that ' _Robert_ ' was directing him to. Reaching in he pulled out a medium sized candle, it was brown in color and was relatively thick. Some matches were also inside the draw, but Beast Boy remembered he still had his trusty lighter. "Hmm... might be useful if my glowstick runs out." Pocketing it, he took one last look around before returning to the corridor.

The 'Labs' as it turned out were a Brutalist horror of poured concrete slabs and tiny windows, built back in the 70s when buildings that looked like Soviet radiators were in style. The technology inside was more up to date, but there were many things that even Cyborg would consider foreign to his way of life. A calendar hung on a nearby wall, showing the current month and date marked as **October 3rd 2006**. "Wait... but that's... _tomorrows date_." He uttered. This was now the second time he'd found something from that was dated from _days yet to come_. Scratching his head in confusion he thought it best to move on to the next section. Wondering through the hallways he walked slowly and patiently as he could, listening for any sound that would warn him of any enemys, but found none. He could hear his own breathing, his heartbeat... he started shaking. Nothing was more disturbing to one with his sense of hearing than _absolute silence_.

Beast Boy soon found himself at the last section to search, the 'Old School'. He found it to be a four-story V-shaped building which had no elevators and narrow stairwells. He started with the top floors and discovered a small room in the far end off the Left Wing that must have been an old principles office, complete with what was once a beautiful antique desk and wardrobe. He checked both, but the wardrobe was empty save for a moth-eaten wool scarf, and the desk's contents were limited to a few old newspapers and some tax forms from the 1950s. The levels below had rows of doors leading of at regular intervals. He unlocked them to find they were all classrooms, all of which were abandoned, dust-covered, and mostly empty. There were a total of twelve disused classrooms in the building, along with two small restrooms and a small breakroom, complete with a lonely coffee pot.

Eventually he came to the last door on the ground level, slightly annoyed that hadn't found anymore clues, he reached out and touched the handle. The doorknob turned, but the door wouldn't open. Not entirely surprised by this he looked more closely, and saw a small keyhole. He checked his magic keychain, and found three possible matches. After he struck out on the first two, the third worked, of course. The hinges squealed like they hadn't been used in a long time (decades.)

What he found was a much Larger classroom. There were desks, a blackboard, anatomical diagrams, and posters on the walls. Everything was covered in an inch of dust. The very air he breathed was dusty, and a little cloud of disturbed dust followed him around the room. A row of naked bulbs hung down from the ceiling, all of which had blown. Beast Boy took out the glowstick and shook it to life, shinning the green light in the dark corners. He looked for anything that stood out, something that was less dusty than the rest of the room... it didn't take long. Beast Boy moved towards the far end of the room, his eyes focused on a single desk in the corner, another note from Robert lay in it's center.

SHE WON'T LET YOU LEAVE /ROBERT

Frowning, he picked the note up and turned it over. There was nothing else. Feeling a sense of unease he turned to leave and jolted to a stop.

(MSP)

 _There was a person sitting at one of the desk on the other side of the room._

(MSP) **_Kevin MacLeod - The Dread_**

That hadn't been there before, he was sure of it. Beast Boy forced down the shudder that he felt rising in him. Keeping a tight grip on the glowstick with one hand he reached into his pocket and withdrew his lighter. He then morphed a monkey tail which took hold of the spray can. With his weapons at the ready he began sidestepping slowly along the side of the room. Keeping his back to the wall, he kept his eyes focused on the black silhouette that sat near the rooms entrance. It sat leaning on the desk with it's arms raised, it's hands shielding it's face from view. Holding his breath as his distance shortened, he notice the person had long hair that streaked down passed it's shoulders. Was it a... _girl_? while thinking this his tail accidentally bumped a discarded glass cup, knocking it off a desk and onto the floor, shattering on impact. Beast Boy jumped and looked down at the broken glass. _A low growling sound was suddenly heard_. he looked back to see the person was now looking straight at him. Beast Boy saw the face and staggered backward with a scream.

 _ **It was Terra!**_

(MSP) **_Kevin MacLeod - The House of Leaves_**

A shocked look was on her face, as if she was frozen in fear. The eyes rolled back into the skull to display black, lifeless sockets. Her mouth was wide open and extended further than it should have been allowed. Beast Boy feel back onto a desk, it broke apart with age and he feel to the floor! dust and pieces of wood flew in all directions. He thrashed back into a standing position, thoroughly shaken and holding the back of his head due to the pain he'd received. Terra stood from her desk, still wearing the school uniform from the last time he saw her. It had been ripped in multiple places, holes covered her shirt, and her tie was missing. Before he hand anytime to react she lot out a bloodcurdling screech, lunging towards him.

" _ **Holy shi**_ -!" He didn't have time to finish cursing, as he narrowly missed getting tackled to the ground. Terra landed on the remains of the broken desk. Beast Boy looked around for his glowstick, he dropped it when he fell, along with the lighter and spray can. Terra snapped her head towards him with an audible ' _Crack_ ', jumping to her feet she made another run at him. Beast Boy morphed into a rabbit, dodging her attack. A loud crash was head as Terra slammed into another desk, breaking it apart. Beast Boy scurried under the row of desks, searching fanatically for any of his weapons. Beast Boy's small form bumped into something plastic and cylinder shaped, changing back almost immediately he took hold of what was mercifully the glowstick.

Shacking it with all his might until the bright neon light flickered into life. He looked up in time to see the demonic Terra rise up from the wreckage, and charge straight for him. Before he could move he was tackled to the ground and she straddled over him. It was then he noticed her hands, and he gasped when he saw they were long slender claws. Quickly raising his one hand to hold her off as she took several swipes at him, he reached over, feeling for the glowstick again. He felt his shirt get torn in his midsection, he whimpered loudly beneath her. "No... Terra... _ah_...!" He winced as she clawed at his chest.

With tears forming in his eyes as he finally grabbed the glowstick, thrusting it up and stabbing it into her right eye. Terra reared up with a roar, clutching at her face as she fell back. Beast Boy pushed himself up, slumping against the teachers desk. He caught a glimpse of his lighter and spray can on the floor and quickly made a grab for them. The possessed Terra thrashed about, pulling hard on the violating glowstick, only to have it break in half. A green chemical poured out over her face, causing it to start smoking, she let out another horrifying scream. Picking up the spray can and holding it to the lighter, he aimed it at Terra's head and ignited the flame. Reacting to the chemicals, her face became an inferno. Beast Boy could only watch as her body combusted, tears still in his eyes.

(MSP)

Collapsing to the floor, her screaming eventually stopped all together, leaving the room with a strong smell of smoke, and an eerie silence. "This is _too much_..." He whispered tearfully and shacking with emotional distress. Whipping away his tears he looked down at his torn shirt, there were at least six tear marks covering his midsection, his collar had been split and exposed some of his chest. Luckily his skin had only suffered a few scratches, not that it made him feel any better. "Oh crud..." He murmured, looking at the broken remains of the glowstick. It was no longer useful to him. Heaving a sigh at the loss of a valuable item, he left the classroom.

* * *

The TV goes into pause mode once more. "Yay for part ten! I hope you enjoyed it... as for me, I'm just gonna sit and wait by this _progression makin_ ' machine right here." Arny points to the autodialer. The machine suddenly begins to vibrate rapidly on his desk. "What the...?" To Arny's surprise the autodialer spawned a set of four robotic legs with wheel attachments. Arny stared in confusion as it slide of his desk, making a bid for the exit. " _OOOOH no you don't_!" Jumping from his chair, Arny quickly chased it out of the studio.


	11. Lost Sun

After a **long** hiatus the TV in the studio automatically fizzles to life. Arny unexpectedly appears on the screen on a handheld camera, standing next to a door with the letters WC engraved on it.

"Huzzah! I'm back!" He announces to audience that were surprisingly still present. "Welp... _sorta_... I'm about several floors down below the studio, I found the autodialer but it had self-destructed." Arny shrugged. "So right now I'm outside a **toilet** where it sounds like someone in there isn't having the easiest time right now." The sound of someone playing a tuba in an odd way could be heard from behind the door. "Ah well, it'll take me awhile to get back, so you lot might as well go and see whats in store for the _other_ Titans." Taking out the remote he points it at the camera and hits the ' _Play_ ' button.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 11: _**Lost Sun**_

The remaining team were still assembled in the common room. They thought it best not to separate under the circumstances. Robin had managed to reboot the mainframe and logged into the tower's security system. The bank of monitors filled the viewing screen, each showed an empty corridor on every level of the tower. Raven was seated behind him on the couch along with Starfire, their gazes fixed to their leader as he worked the computer.

"Alright, I've adjusted the sensor array to detect any vibration that could indicate motion from within the tower." Robin reported. "If something moves, we'll get an alert." He turned to face his teammates.

"How long are we to be in the lock-down?" Starfire asked.

"I don't know, all we can do is hope that the others are safe and are able to find a way back. As for now we should just try to eat something, we've already missed breakfast." They all nodded in agreement and went to have some food and think about something else.

Twenty minutes passed without any issues. Robin leaned against the kitchen counter, taking a bite out of a ham sandwich. Raven and Starfire were seated at the dinner table, Starfire prodded a spoon into one of her half eaten alien dishes with a look of unease. Raven sat next her and took a long sip from her tea mug, placing it back on the coaster, she stared at the half empty cup, her expression mirrored that of her fellow teammate. Robin finished his meal and looked over at the two girls.

There had been little to no communication since they began their meals. The quietness that filled within the large room was becoming more noticeable with each passing minute. That was, until the looming silence was shattered by a blinking ' _Incoming message_ ' sign appearing on the mainframe.

" _Yeek_!" Starfire jumped up from the table with a fright, her chair crashing to the floor. Raven also let out a startled yelp. Her powers slipped causing her mug and Starfire's dish to flip over, spilling their contents onto the table. Robin rushed over to the computer and began typing again.

"Who is it _this time_ Robin?" Raven asked slightly irked at having her tea ruined.

Opening the message file, they were presented with one small word on the screen:

 _Help._

(MSP) _**Sinister Dark Ambient Music - Haunted** **  
**_

The Titans stared at the oddly short message, it was accompanied by another, much longer message appearing below it.

 _It's late in the morning and still dark outside. I can hear the tornado sirens in the next county over, but the weather radar is clear.  
where is the sun?  
_  
The sender was unnamed and there wasn't an email address of any sort. "What is... going on...?" The masked detective muttered.

Just then, a video link was posted below the message. Momentarily confused by this, he opened the link. The video displayed a first person view of someone in a blacked out room, filming a television that was broadcasting a live news report. A female announcer's voice could be heard detailing the strange event about the sun apparently... _vanishing_ _from the sky_.

 _'...and is taking hold of the nation in response to the sudden disappearance... of the sun, with violent riots taking place in just about every major city. We're receiving an influx of reports of ransacking, and looting from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and Washington DC... with hundreds more isolated incidents._

The TV footage showed the various city in eternal darkness and complete chaos, whatever was happening had now spread across the nation. Robin tugged at his collar, how could this even be _happening_? Raven and Starfire were just as baffled, unable to find any logic behind it.

 _The president made a public statement this morning urging people to remain calm and stay in their homes. Meanwhile, experts are claiming this could go on to be an event similar to New England's Dark Day...'_

The video was then cut off, the screen transitioned back to the message browser. A new sentence had now been posted.

 _The power keeps going out and I keep hearing noises outside. Sometimes far away, sometimes close._

This was followed up by another video link.

Robin instantly opened the link. The next video was almost pitch black, as if someone was pointing the camera up at the sky in the dead of night. It appeared to be filming an unseen aircraft, several lights in the distance were blinking repeatedly. The video ended, returning to the message browser, where a third message had been posted.

 _I can't sleep. I think the noises outside are gunshots. It is still dark. The news said it would be back to normal by now, but it isn't.  
Now the news isn't even coming on._

Accompanying the message was a picture that showed the television from before, it was now displayed a 'NO SIGNAL' sign on a static background.

 _TV signal is gone, the noises keep happening outside, and I can barely keep track of time anymore. I am honest to god terrified._ _  
_  
Robin lowered his head, the ever lingering dread of the unknown was rising to a hazardous degree. "The sun is... _the missing_?" The alien girl whispered. Raven looked towards her masked leader who seemed to be at a total lose. "Robin... maybe you should send a message back. At least let whoever it is will know that their messages were received." She suggested.

Raising his head, he looked back at the monitor and sighed. "Your probably right. At least we have someone to communicate with." But just as he's about to type, another sentence appeared.

 _I went outside. I saw something out there I can't really explain, but I can show you.  
_  
A third video was attached to the post. Unable to stop himself, Robin opened the link. The video showed what appeared to be a wooded area. The person holding the camera moved slowly through the bushes and trees. The sound of a lone cricket filled the air as the person came to halt, shinning a flashlight across the immense darkness. Remaining still the person inexplicably turned off the flashlight for a few seconds.

A loud _clicking_ noise then came from the distance. The camera pans up to see a brightly flickering orange light, just beyond the trees. Clearly spooked by this the person turned to flee, just as the video ends. The three Titans all shared disturbed looks. _What on earth had they had just seen_?

 _Still shaken from the short time I was outside. I don't know what that flashing light was, but it was following me. I looked for stars or planets, the sky was pitch black. Could be because of clouds or something else._

Robin quickly seized the moment to type back a reply.

 _Hello! this is the Teen Titans! who are you and what is your location?!_

They all stood tensely for over a few minutes, waiting for any sort of response... but there was none. The unknown informer had gone silent.

(MSP)

Robin frowned, this was the only lead they had to whatever was happening. Just then, a fairly distant vibrating noise caught everyone's attention. " _W-what is that_...?' Starfire whispered. "I dunno star, but I it sounds like it's coming from the _outside_." Quickly, Robin switched back to the security system, this time bringing up the camera views on the outside of the tower. What they showed made him groan in frustration. _They were all pitch black_. The noise got closer, until it was practically above the tower. It sounded mechanical, like some kind of high teck generator. The Titans all looked towards the ceiling, readying themselves for anything. Then, as quick as it came... the noise vanished without a trace.

Silence filled the room again with the Titans being left with zero answers. " _Well_... that was anticlimactic." Raven folded her arms. Robin faced the computer once again. He started rewinding the camera footage to see if they caught anything. Something just flew over the tower and somehow it wasn't detected by the sensors.

Starfire and Raven accompanied him as he played back the footage. A line of white lights could been seen floating through the darkness before transcending upward. Robin tried to zoom in on them, but it didn't reveal anything. "I can't see it, it's took dark outside." Robin whipped a bread of sweat from his forehead. A wave of heat just came over the room. It felt like the temperature had increased by 10 or 15 degrees.

"Perhaps... it was just one of our... earthly crafts of the airs?" Starfire uncertainly spoke. "Well whatever it was, it was definitely not a helicopter." Robin answered. "Judging buy the noise it made, it sounded a lot more like the _T-ship_ when it's in hover mode." The young detective pondering on that thought. "Come to think of it, if it _was_ a hovering ship, then it just might of landed on top of the tower." The trio of Titans glanced up at the ceiling again. "But... we did not hear it do the sound of the landing." Starfire mentioned. "We also didn't hear it _leave_ either." Raven added. There was a long pause as Robin debated on whether or not it was safe to investigate.

His train of though was then interrupted by the ' _Incoming message'_ alert appearing on the screen again. Straight away Robin rushed back to control panel again, reopening the message file to see a short sentence at the top of the screen.

 _Now I have another problem.  
_  
(MSP) _**Sinister Dark Ambient Background Music - Dark Rage**_

This was followed up by a picture of a mysterious figure standing outside on a street corner, just a few yards from the senders house. It was dressed in mostly dark clothing and would have been completely invisible if it weren't stood next to a row of lawn lights that exposed it's presences. Another sentence accompanied the picture.

 _This guy has been standing completely still with his back towards me. I have know idea how long hes been standing there.  
He's still standing there. Hasn't moved.  
_  
Robin was quick to type a response.

 _Hello! we've received your messages! we highly recommend you get away from the window! keep all lights off. Do not talk to them or let them in!  
And if you see any flashing lights, hide!  
_  
To the masked leader's surprise the informer responded almost immediately.

 _Whoever was standing outside is gone now._

A short amount of time later they posted again.

 _Someone is screaming outside._

A video link appeared with text. Robin opened the link without hesitation. A closeup of a wall being lit up by a flashlight was shown, then the faint sound of a males voice could be heard. It yelled something inaudible, thought it sound like someone was shouting orders to ' _ **Get Down**_ _'_. The yelling lasted for a number of seconds, then a loud vibrating sound was heard. The yelling ceased abruptly, as did the video.

(MSP)

No further posts were made for over a minute. " _Ohh kay_..." Robin muttered out before closing the browser. "I guess all we can do now is try to wait all this out." He faced the two girls who were displaying mixed expressions. "But... is there not something we can do? our city is in the _**great peril**_!" The alien princess felt her confidence return. "I know that Starfire, but we can't leave the tower. The broadcast said it would be dangerous if we so much as _look out a window_." Robin looked defeated, which was a rare sight to behold.

Raven then voiced a thought. "That may be true, but whoever sent us those videos clearly had no problems going outside. This isn't the cause of a nuclear meltdown, so the outside air must be safe." Realizing that she had a point he let out a sigh. "Okay... I guess our next move would be to go and see if anything landed on the roof." Getting back into his leader mode he walked forward towards the double doors. "C'mon! we have no time to lose!" His fellow teammates shared a look of curiosity and quickly followed.

They took the elevator up... up... up... the doors opened and they stepped into the hallway. They started towards the stairwell that lead up to the roof. They turned a corner and halted as they saw a faint flickering light coming out from a certain place, and that was their destination. "Look..." Robin whispered, staring forward. There was an audible clicking noise coming from the top of the stairs. The small group edged closer, bracing themselves and peered into the stairwell. They had no idea how but the door to the roof was unlocked and **wide open**. The alarm never came on either. Had it somehow reset itself? undeterred by this, Robin cautiously started up the stairs, ready to reach for his belt of weapons if needed. Stafire and Raven trailed closely behind, fully prepared now that their powers had returned. Halfway up the stairs they came to a stop.

 _The flickering light was coming from beyond the open door_.

(MSP) _**Kevin MacLeod - Blue Sizzle**_

It was white in color and resembled that of a spotlight. The clicking noise that accompanied it was getting louder. Shielding his eyes, Robin tried to see past the light, but couldn't see anything. Raven extended her awareness several yards ahead of her, and what she found made her cry out in shock. " **Wait**!" Robin jumped and snapped his head back to her. "What is it Raven?!" Raven had a disturbed look on her face. "I couldn't sense anything on the roof of the tower, not even on a structure level, in other words... that light is _**floating**_." With this foreboding knowledge they all glanced back at the unknown light source. It continued to flicker, though it seemed to be getting brighter.

Without warning the light ceased flickering, filling the stairwell with darkness. "Um..." Before Robin could form a sentence, he was instantly cut off by the clicking sound.

 _The light was now_ _ **blood red**_.

It flickered angrily at the intruding Titans. " _Aagh_!" Robin stumbled back into Stafire, she let out a startled shriek and grabbed onto to Raven. This caused all three Titans to tumble down the stairs, landing in the hallway in a sprawled out heap. Robin quickly scrambled to his feet, just in time to see the door slam itself shut. The loud clicking stopped, leaving the area in total silence. Robin stared up at the door, which was now most likely sealed shut. It suddenly dawned on him that the mysterious light was almost exactly like what they'd seen in one of the informants videos. _But just what was it_? _and where did it come from_?

Raven sat up, felling dazed from the fall, her vision focused on Starfire who was staring in a trance like state. "Friends... I am starting to fear... that we are the... _prisoners of our own home_." She spoke in a very calm, yet haunting voice. Pursing her lips and forcing down a shudder, Raven leaned over and took hold of the tanned aliens arm, slowly pulling her up as she stood.

Robin was at her other side in an instant. "Starfire?" Robin said, she could barley even stand. "Hey, are you sick? _Starfire_?" He grabbed hold of her arm, draping it across his neck. "Please... make it stop... the light... the horrid light..." Thinking her delirious with fear, he looked towards Raven.

"Lets get her back to her room, whatever that was affected her in someway." Raven agreed and they made there way back, still very much disturbed at what they'd encountered.

(MSP)

* * *

The TV screen turns to static before Arny's hooded face appears. "Hey y'all, just to let you know I'm still not back in the studio yet. I got sidetracked by all the disused stuff down here." Arny moves the camera behind over his shoulder. "I came across an area called **Sector 7-G** and I found this old safety command console that's somehow still active." He looks back to the views. "Anyhow, next up is part eleven. Please review if you have time, and my creator will update real soon, alrighty?


	12. Running The Gauntlet

A few levels down below the studio, Arny lay asleep in his chair with his arms folded and feet propped up on the creased shaped console. As he shifted in his sleep, his foot knocked an empty bottle over which rolled off the edge of the console. The sudden sound of glass shattering jolted him awake.

" _Waah_!" He quickly sat up. "Ah, just resting my eyes." His pressed a few buttons and pulled some levers before acknowledging the handheld camera that he'd left rolling for the viewers. "Oh... heh... it's just you guys." He awkwardly chuckled. "I didn't expect to get back with part twelve so soon." He stretched his arms before reaching over for the remote. "Let's go see how this unfolds." He aims the device at the camera and presses ' _Play_ '.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 12: _**Running The Gauntlet**_

(MSP) **_Audionautix - Deep Space  
_**  
Beast Boy emerged into the school's lobby, he instantly noticed that something was different. One of the entrances doors now stood wide open, as if inviting him to go back outside. With his breath held, he moved towards it, coming to a full stop in the threshold. He couldn't see anything but could hear someone walking away just beyond the dense mist.

He fought the urge to go and check it out, he knew it was too risky... but this seemed to be the only way out. All the windows and emergency exits greeted him to a thick layer of fog, which he didn't dared go in. The footsteps faded until they were no longer audible. Beast Boy took this moment to proceed forward and investigate. He'd only made a few yards before he spotted something. "Huh?" He rubbed his eyes, unsure if he was seeing things. Just as the main gates came into view, a mid-sized silhouette casting a pair of bright headlights could be seen.

 _A car was parked close by_.

His pointed ears also picked up several noises coming from the vehicle. From what he could tell, the car's door was open and _dinging_ , meaning the keys were still in the ignition. He quickly ran towards it, praying and hoping to find someone who could help him. Arriving at the vehicle he nearly doubled over at what he discovered. "Dude... no... _**it can't be**_?!" He almost couldn't believe it, but it was there in plain sight.

 _It was the T-Car_.

"But... _how_?" He uttered to himself. He distinctly remembered leaving it parked near the main drag, so how did it get _here_? more importantly, _who was driving_? He scratched his head in thought, though he knew he'd never get a simple answer. Breathing out a sigh, he began to walk around the vehicle, examining it for any hidden clues. He found the driver's door half open, whoever was driving must have left in a hurry. Peering inside he found the interior light was on and the 'Door Open' warning light was flashing. Climbing into the drivers seat, he closed the door which made the dinging noise stop, only for a different noise to catch his attention.

' _Beeeeeeep_!'

Beast Boy paused, instantly recognizing the familiar sound.

" _Cyborg_!" He twisted his head back looking over the headrest. There, sitting motionless in the back seat was his robotic teammate. He still had his safety belt on along with his red eye which continued to blink on and off. "Oh _thank god_ your still here!" Feeling a wave of relief wash over him, the green teen turned to spot something different outside. The road up ahead was unexpectedly a lot more clearer, while the other two streets were still shrouded with a wall of fog.  
"Well, it looks like we're going _this way_ Cy." Getting back into the habit of talking to his silent passenger, he took hold of the keys in the ignition and twisted them.

The sound of an engine filled the air as he slipped on his safety belt, pulling it across until it ' _Clicked_ ' in place. Placing one hand on the steering wheel, he reached down and released the handbrake. "I've gotta find a way back to the tower... I just hope this road stays in one piece." It was decided. Get back to the tower. That was his mission.

The T-car slowly pulled away from the curb, starting it's second journey into the thick mist. He drove along at a low speed, carefully navigating through the empty streets and watching out for any signs of danger. Each time he came to an intersection he'd see only one of the four routes would be clear enough to drive down. It almost felt as if the fog itself was _alive_ , watching his every move, secretly leading him straight to... _whatever is was_ that took over the city. Trying not to think about it that way, Beast Boy made a left turn onto a road that ran parallel to the local Central Park. He found it had clearly hadn't been traveled in for a long time, the trees were all dead.

This was the same park that he the other Titans would often hangout in, especially when there wasn't any crime. He saw a group of evergreen trees that were planted around the parks main entrance. It was disturbing to see them all dead now. Reaching the end of the park the mist guided him away from the city center. He eventually drove passed Tito's junkyard, the only place to still be full of cars. Something odd he noticed: all of their mirrors were gone. Adding that to his ever growing list of unanswered questions, he was then directed left onto an unused road, littered with discarded newspapers, cardboard boxes and all sorts of trash. The road bared right up a slight hill, a crossroad lay ahead. Just before he reached it, something came out from the right.

 _A dark colored car raced across the junction_.

"Hey! was that...?! that looked like that strange car again!" Convinced he wasn't seeing things, Beast Boy floored the gas pedal. He twisted the steering wheel to the left, the T-Car skidded round the corner. "Hang on Cy! were going after... _what the hell_?" The road lead back onto a main street, but the car was already out of sight. "...where'd it go?" It was then he noticed the mist began a swirling motion, slowing acceding upward. It reached a point where he could now see the road layout more clearly, though it remained low enough to mask the sky. "What the hell is going on here?" Slowing down to a low speed again, he looked around but his target was nowhere to be seen.

"Have I finally _**lost it**_?" He openly questioned his sanity, glancing up at Cyborg in the review mirror. His frequent ' _Beeping_ ' severed as a reminder that he wouldn't get an answer. Sighing, he looked back at the road. "...just keep going Garfield, keep going." He muttered his real name, knowing the Tin Man wouldn't hear it. They drove down a number of streets for a good few miles, though this time he wasn't being guided by the fog. He'd now manged to find a familiar route that would lead in the direction of the tower. "OK, Ok now we're getting somewhere. Assuming there's a way outta this. Dude... _this is starting to freak me out_." He made another left turn onto a road with a steep in-climb, the top barley visible through the mist. Bracing himself, he slowly made his way up. The T-car's engine revved angrily as it climbed the hill, wanting desperately to reach the top. "C'mon baby, hold it together... you can make it." He encouraged in a manor similar to the robotic titan.

(MSP)

Finally they reached the top, slowing to a stop as another crossroad came into view. "Sweet, now we just have to..." He was silenced as the dark colored car appeared again from the left, rolling to a halt.

(MSP): **_Dark Ambient Background Music - Elise will take you and show no mercy_**

"There it is!" He gasped, preparing for a chase, but the car didn't move. "What's it doing? how come it just..." He was cut off again when four more **identical** cars arrived at the scene from the other streets, one at each junction. "There's **MORE** of them...?! what kind of a twisted... hell why am I even _questioning_ this stuff?!" Staring back at the strange group of vehicles, they all remained stationary. Their blacked out windows shielded their drivers from view, with only their bright white headlights acting as their sight. Beast Boy gripped the wheel tightly, now starting to doubt that these cars were here for him to follow. They were waiting for him to make a move.

He looked a the road straight ahead. The four cars had left him a wide enough gap to get through. From then on, it was down to the 100,000 horsepower plasma turbine engine, and all the practice he'd gotten on the Gamestation 2. "Hold on Cy, it's gonna be a wild ride!" Beast Boy hollered. Slamming his foot down on the gas pedal. With tires squealing he peeled out into the street, driving between them. The numerous pairs of headlights all flared red and they began to take off after them. Driving up a small hill, _two more_ black cars appeared on each side of the street... _seemingly out of nowhere_.

There were now **seven** cars pursuing them. The young shape-shifter had his foot full to the floor, yet the black cars were already filling up his review mirror. One of them charged forward, ramming the T-Car.

" _ **Son of a**_ -!" He fought for control as his rear end was shunted. "There's too many of 'em! I'm too exposed! I gotta get outta the city!" He searching desperately for an escape route, but all the side roads and alleyways were submerged by dark fog. As he joined a street that had a cable car track running through the center, he was broadsided from the left, forcing him onto the sidewalk. He yelped as he smashed through a newspaper stand and ricochet off a phone booth before rumbling back onto the road. His course had become limited to the main districts where he was out in the open. All he could do was try to out run his pursuers... which was proving to be no easy task. Realizing this he began frantically looking through the array of buttons on the dash, trying to locate one of the many weapons that Cyborg had installed. The was **_a lot_ **of buttons in turn, but he soon caught sight of a labeled row of buttons that consisted of 'rockets', 'sonic cannon', 'hi-beams' and 'tire spikes'. He kept searching until he came across... 'smoke emitters'. _That_ might be useful... he reached and, hoping the car's gadget would work... pressed the silver button.

It made a ' _Blip_ ' noise and he looked up at the review mirror to see a trail of white smoke pour out the back of the T-Car. _He'd activated the smoke screen_. This bought him some time as the cars briefly lost sight of him. He looked ahead to see a set off red headlights coming towards him from the other side of the tracks. With his breath held he steered the T-Car as far to the right as he could. The oncoming red headlights narrowly missing him before disappearing into the cloud of smoke behind him. Knowing fully well that the smoke would only slow them down, he scanned the buttons for another rear-firing weapon. That's when he caught sight of the 'oil slick' button. Stealing another glance up at the review mirror, he saw the smoke screen had ran out, the black cars now baring down on them. Licking his lips, he waited until they were but a few yards from his rear fender. With one hand on the wheel, he reached over and pressed the button.

The sound of screeching tires was heard from behind as the pursuing cars lost traction, spinning and sliding across the road like it were an ice rink. "Ha- _ha_! looks like you were right Cy! nothin' can stop the T-" Beast Boy's cheering was short lived, as he looked ahead to see another vehicle emerge through the mist. It was driving down the center of the district, along the cable tracks. As their distance shortened, Beast Boy saw it didn't have a pair of red lights, but a normal yet _very bright_ singular headlight. It didn't seem to be aiming for him... instead, a bright blue lazer beam was fired from it, shooting passed the T-Car. The changeling looked back in astonishment. The lazer beam struck one of the black cars, it disintegrated into a puff of black smoke on impact. " ** _Woah_**! what was _that_!" He whirled his head back at the rear window. Several bright flashes lit up the street as the strange car continued to blast the remaining black cars making them disappear.

The unexpected attack gave him the chance to escape, but just _who_ had come to the rescue? was there someone else also trapped in this nightmarish hell of a city? and why did seeing that blue lazer beam seem so _familiar_? with his mind focused on the battle taking place behind him, he failed to see an object appearing in the road.

 **BASH!**

He cursed, hitting the object head-on, it slipped beneath the T-Car and was being dragged against the tarmac. He raised himself up in the seat, trying to see what he'd hit. "OH CRAP!" The road ahead suddenly ended at a _cliff_ and he had no time to hit the breaks. The T-Car launched off the edge, becoming airborne for a few seconds as it entered the thick mist... then it went into a nosedive. Beast Boy screamed in absolute terror, falling through the mist with no hope of stopping. The T-Car tumbled end over end over... and over... and over again! He braced himself for impact and prayed for his very soul.

 **SPLASH!  
**  
(MSP)

Water splashed around the T-car. " _Oomph_!" He groaned, holding his head, which ached due to hitting the roof. The T-Car had fortunately landed the right side up, and was now floating in some kind of lake. "Uuugh... _now_ where am I?" He was surrounded by the total grayness from the fog, and couldn't see anything beyond the front of the car, which was already beginning to submerged under the water. "Oh _shit_..." Realizing that the car was starting to sink he quickly reached over and pressed a button labeled 'hover jets'. The cars wheels rotated inwards, sealing up the wheel hubs and replacing them with the jets. Beast Boy grinned as the front of the T-Car rose back above the water level, keeping it afloat. "Who knew the hover jets would work so well on water...?" he mumbled, then looked at Cyborg in the review mirror. "I guess you'd probably lecture me for sayin' _that_." Cyborg only _'Beeped_.' in response.

(MSP) **_Audionautix - Deep Space  
_**  
With the jets now activate, he cautiously piloted the T-Car through the blinding fog. There was no way of telling where he had to go, or _could_ go for that matter. This continued for at least a mile, and was beginning to unnerve him, fearing that he would go over another cliff. Eventually, his eyes caught a glimpse something in the distance. Seeing this as a sign that he was near land, he surged towards it. As it slowly came into view, he was able to see the clear out line of a very tall building, taking on the unique shape of an alphabet letter. His eyes stared in absolute disbelief.

 _Titans Tower emerged from the fog._

"I'm... _home_?" He whispered. A few yards in front of him was in fact, Titans Island. "Then that means... _I'm in the ocean_?!" he gaped around, surprised to discover that the ocean still existed, though now it was abnormally calm. Feeling it best to get back on dry land, he steered the T-Car towards the slipway that lead to the garage. Reaching the slipway and making shore he deactivated the hover jets, he drove onto the island. "Wait a sec... that doesn't look right..." Beast Boy stared up at the letter-shaped building ahead of him. "Oh _crud_..." He couldn't even say it. The building had been _locked-down_. All the windows were covered by a thick wall of armored plating, the place had been sealed tight... it looked completely dead.

He followed the short path that lead to Cyborg's shrine to all things involving cars and machinery... the garage. Arriving at it's entrance, he was surprised to find the garage shutters had been left wide open. But how could this be? the lock-down should of closed off every known entrance to the tower. Deciding it was best not to question it he drove inside. Parking inside he switched the engine off and climbed out. It was then he first saw the amount of damage the T-Car had sustained from the chase. It was quite _bad_. If Cyborg had seen it in this state, he would have had systems crash and a heart attack all at once. The paint was littered with large dents and scratch marks, bearing the scars of battle. The left side-view mirror was cracked and bent. The front fender was crumpled with the remains of a police barricade wedged underneath it, while the rear fender was hanging off from the right. The tiers looked okay, but he knew they would only last so long. " _Oh boy_... I really hope you don't hold me responsible for this Cy." Beast Boy sighed nervously.

His gaze landed on the Tin Man sat in the back set, he now need to get him to his room, but he didn't even know if the tower was _safe_. Pondering his options, he decide to search the tower fist. "I'll only be few minutes Cy... just... _don't get stolen_." With that said he turned towards a pair of double doors and pushed them open.

(MSP)

* * *

The video transition cut back to Arny taking a sip out of a Buzz Cola can. "That was part twelve, and just in time for the one year anniversary of this story." He placed the can on the console before picking up a built-in telephone. "And to celebrate, I'm just gonna make a quick phone call..." He dialed several numbers.

Somewhere at Oak Ridge **National Laboratory** , a technician sitting at a computer received Arny's call. "Hello _Oak ridge_? this is Jump City **Ghost Planet Industries**. We need to order a _ **T-437** Safety Command Console_." The technician looked at his computer screen before responding.

"Err, Jump City my computer shows your **T-437** Console is fully operational." Arny took hold of the Buzz Cola and casually started emptying it all over the console.

"Err, I suggest you- Oh, my God, _OH_ , _GOD_ , _NO_! _OH_ , _THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING_ , _THI-YOU'RE OPERATED WITHOUT A T-437_ , _JUMP CITY_! _OH_ , _SWEET MOTHER OF MERCY_ , _I MEAN...I MEAN MY GOD_!" As the technician panicked, Arny set the empty can down before giving the audience the ' _OK_ ' sign.


	13. Strange Behavior

Arny pushed open a set of double doors and was greeted by the awaiting viewers.

"Here I am again! Thanks for stopping by! why don'tcha join me back at the studio, I'm cookin' up a real treat for ya today." Arny sat back at his desk which was now littered with several telephones, at least ten of them varying in all different models. "Its _Calling In Reviews Time_! you'll get to see if your reviews affect the story, be it the phone _orrrrr_... _the internet_ if you technologically inclined." He motions to an old style computer that took up half of his desk.

"So, when I tell you to, call the number that's scowling down there at the bottom of the screen an-" Arny was interrupted by one of the phones ringing. He swiftly answered it. "No! _not now_!" Slamming it down he looks back at the audience. "Don't call till I tell you to... now remember to leave a review at the end... uh lets just roll the video." With the remote in his palm he presses ' _play_ '.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 13: _**Strange Behavior**_

Raven entered her room, finding it darker than usual. The lock-down having sealed up her window with the metal plating. She turned to face her leader and fear stricken teammate. Originally they planed to take Starfire back to her room, but Robin didn't want to risk leaving her all alone. With all that's been happening, he couldn't take any chances. So Raven agreed to let Starfire stay with her for the time being.

Raven walked over to her bedside lamp and clicked it on. Once, twice, three times and that was as bright as it got. Robin assisted Stafire across the room and carefully settled her down on Raven's bed. "There we go..." His gaze lingered on the redhead as she lay staring up at the ceiling, her normally chipper face now completely expressionless. It was like the happy had been sucked out of her. Reaching down with his left hand he gently touched her face. " _Ohhh_..." Starfire moaned and turned her head slight towards him. "Robin..."

"It's okay Star..." He whispered, stroking her cheek once before withdrawing. He looked over to Raven who shared a look of concern. "I think she's just in shock, that... _bright_ _light thing_ seem to know that we were there." Raven nodded. "Yes, the way it reacted when it saw us suggests that it was some kind of motion detector. It was definitely trying to prevent us from leaving the tower." Robin sent a wary glance towards the sealed window, as though someone was listening to them from the other side. "Well, I'm gonna take another look at the security tapes, see if I can enhance the footage for better analyzing." He took one last look at the alien girl. "Just... keep an eye on her for now okay? I'll be in the common room if you need me." Raven assured him that she'd be safe before leaving the room.

Raven walked around to the other side of the bed. Sitting down, she sent a troubled look towards Starfire who was now staring off into space. With silence now filling the room, she thought about trying some meditation, but decided against it. There was just too much bothering her. A deep ache suddenly grew in Raven's heart, and she futilely tried to suppress it. What in Azar's name was happening to the city? The last thing she remembered before all this strange stuff began was being sucked into the large vault at the research base. Shortly after they'd witnessed that unknown intruders ritual. She suddenly gasped. _The ritual_! She quickly reached inside her cloak, fumbling around until she pulled out an item that she'd retrieved from the base. " _Why didn't I remember this sooner_?" She whispered, mentally kicking herself.

Resting in her palm was the crumpled up piece of paper. The very one that had been tossed away by the mysterious figure. She carefully began opening it out to find twelve symbols sketched onto it, arranged in a pair of columns. At the very top was a thirteenth symbol. It looked like the crosshairs that you would see on a gun sight, but... the space within the circle didn't have the plus in it. Raven immediately recognized it... oh yes, she did. " _The binding symbol_..." Raven whispered. She squinted at it, finding it to be hand drawn. On closer inspection she noticed that this was no ordinary paper. It looked like parchment, like from Raven's ancient scrolls, but... it looked more _alive_. Her eyebrows raised as it suddenly clicked. This was a piece of _vellum_ , also commonly refereed to as... **animal skin**. Raven grimaced at this little discovery. This would have made Beast Boy sick just touching it... Raven paused.

 _Beast Boy_... his absence was beginning to become very noticeable, as well as Cyborgs. Their constant yelling and berating of each other reminded her that there was still life within the tower. With them missing and Starfire gone into silent mode... the tower was becoming way too quiet, even for _her_ liking.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''  
 ** _Audionautix - Deep Space_**

Beast Boy entered the lobby to find it dark and poorly lit with emergency lights. The metal doors to the elevator were at the far end, though he doubted it was in service, since the power was clearly out. Beast Boy made the logical decision and cautiously moved forward until he reached the _stairs_... taking them upward, to the common room. The sliding doors had been left partly open, he pushed them apart to find-!

 _An empty and silent room_.

"It's too quiet. I don't like this." There were pots and pans out in the kitchen area, and ingredients for one of Starfire's alien dishes were laying around. He had no idea what half of them were, but they all looked cold, stale, and _unusable_. He searched slowly through the living room, looking for any signs of recent activity. None.

The Gamestation that never stayed off enough to get cold looked as though it had been off for years. Beast Boy inspected it closely, and found dust on it. No one had played it for a long time. He winced at the sight. Robin and Cyborg and him especially couldn't live without this precious item. Standing erect and turning towards the coffee table, he noticed something sticking out from under a couple of old magazines. Feeling curious, he lifted them up and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. Straightening it out he was met with a strange message.

 **Remember**

 **-** **Don't** **look into the light.**

 **-** **Don't** **move. They see** **motion** **.**

- **Don't** **produce light. They will see.**

 ** _THE_** **  
** ** _STROBE_** **  
** ** _?_**

"What is all this...?" Beast Boy mumbled. It was written in a black marker pen with the last two words taking up half the page. He was briefly reminded of the messages left by Phil and Hank in the sewers. Did this have something to do with the two lost workmen? he didn't know what to make of it. But it did hold some useful survival tips. "I'm gonna hang onto this." He quite suddenly realized that all his pockets were full.

He spotted a small backpack sitting on the couch where Cyborg usually sat. Beast Boy went over to it. It was pink, suggesting it to be Starfire's. He unzipped all the zippers and turned it upside down. Two ticket stubs, two pairs of sunglasses, a digital camera, a passport and eighty three dollars fell out. A small water bottle fell to the floor with a loud **_Thud_**. The water inside was now a block of ice. How had it gotten so cold to become frozen? Beast Boy was then drawn to Starfire's camera, picking it up he was startled when it made a small noise. The zoom lens stuck out and a flashing red light blinked in the corner. _The camera was still working_. Looking closer since he'd accidentally triggered the ' _Power'_ button, he looked at the viewing screen that was used when taking photos. Wondering why the camera was still running he decided to do some digging. Scrolling through the options he selected ' _Photo Album_ '. He raised a brow at what he found.

According to the time stamps, Starfire had take over one hundred pictures over the course of two days. The strange part was... only about ten of them were taken inside the tower during the daytime. The remaining ninety plus were all at the late... late hours between 01:00 and 04:00 in the morning, and eighty seven of thous remaining ninety, show nothing but blackness. Beast Boy studied the photos, the first image was taken at 13:54 pm on _Oct 3_ , just two days after the events at the facility. The image was an ordinary shot of Starfire's bedroom with the light on, as if she had done a practice photo. The nine that followed where various rooms in the tower, none of which featured any of the three missing Titans. The last _normal_ photo was take outside Cyborg's room, it was time stamped at 16:39 pm.

He came to the first nighttime image, the date displayed _Oct 3_ and was taken at 01:00 am. It showed the interior of the lobby he had just come from, only not as dark. The next two were that of a dimly lit hallway, the large door to the basement lay ahead. Scrolling to the next image, she was now inside the basement, standing at the top of the stairs. Beast Boy wondered why Starfire would be down there at all, especially on her own at such a late time. The next image showed her moving behind a crate that contained Slade artifacts, the darkness surrounding her was becoming more apparent. The next image confused him, as it was a close up of the wall. Had she taken a snapshot by mistake? he doubted that it mattered and kept searching. What he found next was just as puzzling. She was in another hallway, though it wasn't one he recognized. She must have taken it in complete darkness as the camera flash was evident.

"Where were you going Star?" Beast Boy heard himself speak softly. Another image came up, she had moved further down the hall, possibly using the camera flash to light up the path in front of her. From then on, the rest of the photos were pitch black. Beast Boy bit his lip, going back through all the photos a second time. He found that the file names of the images were numbered starting at 499. Her first image was listed as **IMG499** , her second image was **IMG500** , so on and so fourth. So it became rather _odd_ when he couldn't find **IMG509**. Out of all the hundred pictures left on the device, the only image that was missing is conveniently the one between the final daytime image and the first nighttime image. Beast Boy frowned.

If she was using the camera as means of guidance, why would she be concerned with deleting any images from her camera? especially in a place where there was no light. He wonder just _where_ that corridor even was. The wall that was visible in the photo wasn't metallic, it was a bluish-grey and covered in black scratches. Had Starfire somehow found an area in the tower that no one knew about? If that were so, why did she go alone? Beast Boy looked down at the empty backpack, he decided it could be useful in case he found more items. Picking it up he stuffed all his current objects and the camera inside, slipping it onto his back, he looked around. The huge window-wall of the common room was covered by a giant metal plating, blocking off Jump City from view. If it was even there anymore... who knew how far the fog had spread itself. "I feel so isolated." He uttered.

Licking his dry lips, he stood in thought for a while. The Titans had managed to make it back to the tower, so whatever had been released into the city didn't take over straight away. Starfire's camera showed signs of strange behavior... the message left on the table supported it. Maybe searching their rooms would give him some new information... _and a way to resurrect Cyborg_. Beast Boy frowned after a moment, though. Even if he could get Cyborg recharged, he was still missing most of his limbs and was in no condition to help.

Thinking of things in the long run wasn't helping, so he decided to go and see if Cyborg's room was at least in better shape. He took the stairs since the elevator was dead. The hall was long, dark and dingy. But... unlike the sewers, he heard no whisperings, so he felt a little better. He found the door marked with his name, and stood in front of it for a moment. Starfire's last daytime photo had been taken in this _very spot_. Reaching slowly and carefully, he gripped the doorknob. It was ice cold. Summoning his inner strength, Beast Boy threw the door open.

The room was full of things that housed all the electrics for the tower, as well as the Tin Man himself. A row of metal shelves took up the entire right wall, staked with loads of hardware and servers. He glanced around the room. It looked old and forgotten, like everywhere else he'd been. His desk was strewn with notes and symbol scribblings, that looked heavily out of place in the metal man's room. A poster board with schematics of the tower with red X's on them stood next to it. Drawings, pens and loads of scribbled on paper was all over the place, as if someone had been desperately trying to solve a puzzle.

All the technical equipment was off, he noticed, save a single computer that was stationed in the far left corner. The other walls were tinted a dry gray, the paint chipped. Shards of gray lay on the white tiled floor, and the table the computer sat on was rusty and scared. He bit his lip as he focused on a certain stain on the wall. It looked like... dry blood. He shuddered at the thought.

Moving carefully towards the computer, it was an older model, one from the late 90s at least. It was originally Cyborg's fixer-upper project, but was now used as a back-up computer to store dater on, in case the main sever was disabled. Cyborg had modified it to work off a separate output. How he even achieved that? Beast Boy didn't know, but sat on the swivel chair in front of the monitor. He warily eyed a telephone that was placed on the desk nearby. Hesitantly, he picked up the phone, although he doesn't hear a dial tone... _or whispers_ for that matter, he does receive a tone indicating the phone had been disconnected.

Hanging up the phone, he noticed a discarded outlet plug behind the computer tower. Acting on a hunch he reached over for it, he plugs it into the socket on the wall, pushing the button on the tower, the modem turns on. A whirring noise became audible, several lights on the tower started flashing. Beast Boy grinned as the computer activated and he wiped away the dust that covered the monitor. The old style bluish-green desktop came into view, with the tradition link icons listed to the left of the screen. Taking hold of the cursor he clicked on the ' _Documents_ ' folder, knowing that this was where data folders were stored. He frowned in disappointment when he found there was only a single video file, it was dated 10.02.06 which would have been today, but he doubted it was from the same time zone. "May as well..." he mumbled, clicking the file.

A small video player appeared on the desktop and it started playing automatically. It showed **Robin** of all people inside the exact same room that Beast Boy was currently in. He sat at the desk facing the computer which the camera seemed to be mounted on. It soon clicked with the green teen that he was watching a **webcam** recording. The clip was only about twenty nine seconds long, and the quality was exactly what you'd expect from a 2006 webcam. Robin was seemingly working on the computer, surrounded buy bits and pieces of information. He looked as though he hadn't slept in hours, as he would blink his mask several times to keep himself awake, so it was unclear as to why the webcam would even be recording.

All seemed normal until around the seventh second mark, Beast Boy noticed something disturbing in the background. The door to Cyborg's room had been left wide open, where a dark figure is seen walking swiftly into the frame. The apparition seems to sway in the doorway before noticing Robin and instantly backing away. The mysterious prescience must have made some sort of noise or caused a chilling sense, because the young detective suddenly twists around quickly to investigate. However by then, the dark figure has ran out of sight or disappeared into fin air. But something was still bothering Robin, as he spends sometime looking back and fourth to the hallway. Eventually he rises up from the seat and proceeds towards the hall.

"Dude... don't go out there!" Beast Boy felt like he was watching a scene from a horror film. "Don't..." Unfortunately, the video ends just before Robin walks out into the hallway.

Beast Boy looked around the room, glancing at the emergency light near the open doorway that was lighting the room. Licking his dry lips again, he turned back to the monitor. He played back the video, trying to analyze it, but the videos low quality made almost impossible to see what the unknown entity was. He paused the feed where it was just about visible, in some of the frames it appeared to be a dark ghostly mass with no identifiable features.

He stared idly at the desktop, a cold chill going down his spine. "Dude... just what the hell _is that thing_?"

(MSP)

* * *

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!

The word flashes on the TV screen repeatedly. "Welp, that's our story so far. Now It's time for _you_ to send in your responses." Arny announces while sitting by the telephones. "I'll be eagerly waiting your ca-" The surrounding phones all began ringing at once. Arny looks at the audience with a forced smile. "Your not gonna make this easy are ya?"


	14. Unexplained Sighting

Arny sat at his desk, holding one of the many phones to his hat covered ear, listening to a recent call he'd just revived.

"Sure, I'll by some cookies in exchange for a review. How much will that be?" He paused when he heard the response. "You need about _three fiddy_..." Arny's smile faded as he realized just who he was taking to. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Nice try _Loch Ness monster_ , now get off the line!" He slammed the receiver down before noticing that the audience had returned.

"Oh, hey everybody... uh, a word of advice, if a crustacean from the Paleozoic era asks you for money... _don't give them any_. He eyes the phone that he hung up before taking hold of the remote. "Anyway... let's get on to the next chapter." With the click of a button the TV unpauses.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 14: _**Unexplained Sighting**_

Raven sat cross-legged on her bed, flipping feverishly through one of her books for any sort of info. "Surely there must be _something_ in this book..." She murmured, trying to decipher the books odd alphabet. Most of Raven's books were in Azar, the language of her homeland. But, the book she was looking at right now was handwritten. It was quite old and dog-eared, but written in perfect English. Glancing over at the piece of vellum, she mumbled to herself as she compared one of the symbols with the one being explained on the page.

No good. It was close, but not the same symbol. She'd found two by lucky chance and her spirits had lifted. The first one looked almost exactly like the Egyptian sign for rebirth, akha. Raven wondered for a moment if each symbol had a country or religion of origin. But then again, some of the symbols reminded Raven of the ancient Azar scrolls she'd seen… _was there a connection_?

Starfire lay just behind her, she hadn't spoken a word since Robin left, meaning she had most likely fall asleep. Sighing in annoyance, the dark girl closed the book. She hadn't found any others and it had been nearly an hour. Needing to stretch her legs, she stood and placed the book on a stack she'd made. It had been real quiet for a while, she noticed it had warmed up after that _thing_ flew over the tower earlier. The sound of Starfire stirring caught her attention. She was now curled to one side, facing away towards the sealed window. Raven debated whether she should wake her up or not, what happened at the roof had really gotten to her. "I hope Robins had better luck in finding out just _what_ we're up against." She warily stared at her window.

Robin lent on the control panel in the common room, the viewing screen once again displayed a gird of camera views from outside the tower. He'd been analyzing the video with the mysterious row of lights for nearly an hour. He'd tried everything from enhancing the footage to adjusting the quality. No results. The main issue being that the cameras simply didn't have a 'Night Vision' mode. Robin cursed himself for not suggesting such a feature to Cyborg, he would have installed it in a heart beat. Running a hand through his spiky hair, he stood up and looked around the empty room in thought. He'd been rather surprised that the power had stayed on for this long. Only a few outages here and there, but couldn't shake the apprehensive feeling that it will go out permanently any time now.

He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts when the ' _Incoming message_ ' sign alerted him. Startled by this, Robin quickly opened the message file. He was extremely surprised to find it was from the same unnamed sender.

(MSP) **_Kevin MacLeod - Apprehension_**

 _Sorry I was gone. Reception went out earlier. I was worried it wouldn't come back on. No signs of activity outside. Come to think of it, it has been a while since I heard a gunshot..._

In an instant, Robin typed back a reply.

 _Hello, are you OK? is there anyway we can help?  
_  
Unexpectedly the sender sent back a response.

 _To whosoever asking, I'm doing alright. Hiding in my room and waiting this out. And don't worry I have a way to defend myself if worse comes to worst. If anyone Knows ANYTHING about what is going on, please message me. 911 and other emergency lines are not responding and the only radio I have is out in the car. So I'm trying to gather as much information online as I can._

Relived that he'd gotten some good news for once, Robin braced himself as he typed up a rather important question.

 _Do you know how many other people are dealing with this? how wide spread is this?_

He didn't have to wait long for an answer.

 _ **It's global**_ _. But the majority of people are without power and, therefore, internet. Even more of a majority have vanished. That's why news, government, everything stopped. We are the lucky few.  
_  
(MSP)

Robin's heart sank. Only now did it really hit him, just how many people had been impacted by this. How many friends. How many families. He wished he could do more to help.

(MSP) _**Kevin MacLeod - Blue Sizzle**_

Just then, a loud high pitched noise came from the other side of the sealed window. whatever flew over the tower earlier was back. But this time the noises were different. Robin jump to attention, staring intensely at the metal plating. The _thing_ was making sounds he'd never heard before. The vibrations began shaking the tower. Thinking fast, Robin took hold onto the keyboard and brought up the security system again. This time though he changed the cameras control settings so he could operate the cameras manually. The noise changed tone, like it was some kind of electronic organ. He couldn't see anything on the north side of the tower, but he quickly panned to the east side just as it seemed to fly away and leave.

The vibrations stopped, the common room now became deathly quiet. Not wanting to let anything slip by him, he played it back and maximized the video. No sooner had he enhanced the picture, he froze disbelief.

 _An enormous dark shape was hovering in the distance._

Robin couldn't believe what he was looking at. It was like a giant origami, and it was less than a few miles away from the tower, hovering out above the ocean. "What the...? how can something... like _that_... even **exist**? _"_ It's size alone was a sight to behold. It looked like some kind of spacecraft... _an incredibly large spacecraft_. Possibly the biggest one he had ever seen, and the young detective had faced many things that have been very unbelievable when told in stories, but _this_ was on a whole new level of it's own.

The automatic doors behind him sprung open. He snapped his head back to see Starfire and Raven burst into to the room, looking as if they'd ran a marathon. " _ROBIN_!" They both choked out at once. Assuming they were here because of the noises and vibrations Robin made to reassure them. "It's alright girls... I heard the noise too and-" He was abruptly cut off.

"It got in."

Robin froze at Raven's blunt statement, unsure if he heard her right.

"W-what are you talking about Raven?" He stared at his two disheveled teammates.

"We don't know how, but the floating light got in."

(MSP)

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''  
 ** _Audionautix - Deep Space_**

Beast Boy wandering down the empty hallways of the tower, his senses on full alert. Whatever he'd seen on the webcam may still be lurking somewhere. He also couldn't help but wonder what Robin was doing in Cyborg's room in the fist place, let a lone using his old computer. On top of that, he seemed to have been working none stop to try and decipher some kind of cryptic symbols. Were they in someway connected to all of this? he was torn from his thoughts when came round a corner.

Up ahead was the door to the bathroom. He stopped from a moment, holding his abdomen. He chuckled slightly. "Heh... guess I haven't gone in ages... so I might as well." He'd been running across the city for what felt like hours. Beast Boy had to relive himself sooner or later. Moving closer to the door, he found it to be half open. He slipped himself through the narrow gap, closing the door out of pure habit. There wasn't much to the bathroom, though it seemed to be strictly functional. A toilet, a sink and a walk-in shower. It was pretty much bear. He went over to the toilet and raised the seat. When he was done he turned, facing the medicine cabinet that was above the sink. He flicked the hot faucet on, but received no water. "Oh great... the waters out _too._ " Beast Boy groaned in annoyance. "Well... it's not like I _needed_ to wash my hands." He said while looking at his gloves. They were showing a little wear and tear, but otherwise kept his hands clean. He looked towards the mirror on the wall next to the cabinet, or at least... where the mirror _used to be_...

All he saw was an empty outline where the mirror had once been fixed to the wall. "Where's the...?" Turning a full circle of the room, he searched for wherever the mirror might have been moved. But no, it was gone altogether. " _Weird_... why would anyone go to the trouble of taking the mirror down?" Beast Boy paused for a lengthy time, feeling that he'd come across something like this before... back in the city when he drove passed Tito's Junkyard. (All the cars had their mirrors missing.)

Was this some kind of defense against... whatever that _thing_ was he'd seen lurking in the hallway on the webcam? he sighed. "As if this could get more confusing..." He said. "Tower locked down, water turned off, and all the _mirrors are missing_. What the hell next...? he sighed, resting his hands on the sink "I seriously doubt whatever the _next clue_ I find will give me any... huh?" Beast Boy looked up at the medicine cabinet.  
A black unknown liquid was leaking out from inside it, dripping into the sink where a puddle had formed. Reaching out and brushing his gloved figures over the small trail. " _Black ink_...?" Confused by this he opened the cabinet, finding it to be mostly stuffed with out of date toiletries. The trail came from the bottom shelf, which contained a stack of pills that were older than he was. He removed all the pills from the shelf, below them he pulled out a single piece of paper that had been torn in several places.

(MSP)

 _Written in dripping ink was the words:_

 _ **SAVE YOURSELF**_

(MSP) **_Kevin MacLeod - The Dread_**

Beast Boy stared at the disturbing message, feeling his color drain away. Had someone written this only mere minutes earlier? he turned when something on the bathroom door caught his eye.

 _The word '_ _ **NO**_ _' had been scribbled all over it_ _ **.**_

Beast Boy recoiled, dropping the note. The same word, over and over, began appearing on all the walls in what he recognized as black crayon. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up-! it was now practically scrawled on _everything_! the sink, the cabinet, the shower door... hell even the _toilet_ was now covered in the word. The green teen was shaking uncontrollably, but they were only words, he kept reminding himself.

The shower's glass door slid open by itself. Beast Boy jumped and spun around to face it... but there was no direct threat. Instead, he was meet with a dark form slumped against the back wall. _It looked like a body_... Beast Boy's mind finally found his lungs. "Who's there?!" he said a little boldly, trying to sound brave. The black form started to move, pushing itself up into a standing position with it's head bowed down. Beast Boy slid the backpack down his arm, ready to pull out the spray can and lighter. "Who are you?!" he demanded when it stayed silent. "If ya don't answer me soon..." he warned, pulling out his lighter and flicking it on "Your gonna get-!" the figure raised it's head and Beast Boy cried in horror!

 _ **He saw a zombified clone of**_ _ **himself**_ _ **, chained to the wall behind by his neck.**_

(MSP) _**Kevin MacLeod - Right Behind You**_

Beast Boy staggered back into the sink, dropping the backpack to the floor. That had been the absolute _last_ thing he'd been expecting. But, there was no doubting it. Beast Boy saw _himself_ standing in the shower, a strewn of whittled crayons littered the floor where he stood. A horrible look of sadness was on his face, staring back at him with sunken black eyes.

Beast Boy moaned with a hint of fatigue, unable to look at it for very long. "It's not there. It's an _illusion..."_ He whispered, holding his head. "...not there... _not real_..." he looked back, and the figure still stood there before him. Trembling horribly in his torn outfit, Beast Boy moved a few inches closer. It looked _identical_ to him.

The weather-beaten skin had pieces missing here and there, the nose was skeletal and his jaw was gaunt and detached with signs of dripping spittle down his chin. Several chains were wrapped tightly around his neck, his shirt had been ripped away along with his torso, exposing most of his rib cage. How in the world had he stayed alive in here for so long? His body had lost so much flesh and blood... Beast Boy reached down into the backpack, pulling out the spray can out with a trembling hand. The decaying doppelganger slowly began to movie forward. The green teen held it up to the lighter, taking aim and pushing the top down as he reignited a flame

 _Only a small dose of air came out_.

Beast Boy stared down at it in disbelief. "Oh _shit_..." he cried. "It can't of run out _now_!" he shook it a few times, the can made a low hissing noise, it was practically empty. Dropping it to the floor, he looked up to see the undead version of himself reach the edge of the shower. The chains preventing him from moving any further. It's thin right arm was now out stretched towards him, his gloveless hand was a stump with no figures. " _Oh God_ _oh God oh God_...!" Beast Boy drew back shacking.

" _There is no_ _**God** , __he has abandoned us._ "

Beast Boy clutched his chest in distress, his heart threatening to burst out in fear. It spoke to him, with a mournful voice that had lost all hope. His body trembling at the terror he was witnessing, he accidentally activated one of the gadgets on Robin's utility belt. A pair of disks landed on the floor. Realizing this he quickly reaching down and picked them up, discovering them to be Robin's 'Electric Discs.'

Feeling a rush of icy cold adrenaline pump through his system, he pressed the trigger on the gadgets. "No... I'm **_not_** you." He rushed forward, stuffing the two discs into the undead clones exposed rib cage. The clone fell backwards, hitting the wall as Beast Boy slide the shower door shut. In no less than a second, an audible electric shock was heard and the room lit up like a fireworks display. The clone let out a horrible, haunting cry, one that would haunt him for a long time... a burst of flames erupted behind the glass door. Beast Boy shielded his eyes from the blazing heat. A few seconds past before the crying ceased and the flames died down.

(MSP)

He stood there, shaking beyond measure not for the first time. A black stain of soot covered most the glass door. Reaching forward slowly, he slid the glass door open to find the clone had been reduced to a pile of dust and ash. He stared at the remains for a long time, barley able to believe what he'd witnessed. As soon as he could Beast Boy grabbed the backpack and rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Once it shut he leaned against the door for the longest time.

Tears flowed down Beast Boy's face. What kind of horror had plagued the city? How much more would he have to witness? Would he even survive to find a way out? This was a horror like no other, it was like ' _Wicked_ _Scary_ ' horror cranked up to **eleven**. He was so scared at what he had seen... all he had... were the strange pictures taken by Starfire and the weird video recorded by Robin. With wet cheeks and bloodshot eyes, he forced himself to stand at last.

"I can take much more of this..." Beast Boy whispered, slinging the backpack onto his back. It didn't seem to be such a bright pink anymore.

* * *

The TV freezes. Arny is shown unrolling a dance mat across the studio. He looks up at the audience. "Alrighty then, while we're all waiting for the next chapter, I'm gonna entertain myself with some of _this_..." He holds up a VHS copy of _Patchy's Dance Tips_. "The dance instructional video series of only $29.95, I know it sound tacky but... _its a forty dollar value_!"


	15. Eternal Emptiness

Music echoes around the studio as Arny is seen break dancing to an 80s classic.

 _S-S-S-S A-A-A-A F-F-F-F E-E-E-E T-T-T-T Y-Y-Y-Y SAFETY DANCE!_

 _DUNDUNDAHDUDUNDUNDADADUHDA._

Arny turns around in mid-dance and freezes on the spot, seeing that he had company. "Huh?... OH!" He quickly snatched up the remote and switches off the instructional dance video. "Hello again!" He greeted fairly quickly. "Back for some more scary fun, are you? _Alrighty_! I won't disappoint! However, there's something I need to address first... _why_ _is it so easy for children to break into the **Pentagon** in South Park_? ...ah well, I guess that's just one of the many unsolved mysteries of life." He then changes the TV channel to the frozen screen and unpauses the video.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 15: _**Eternal Emptiness**_

The small group of heroes emerged into the long, empty hallway with Robin taking the lead. Raven walked along side him while Starfire reluctantly trailed behind them. Raven quickly informed the masked detective that after the loud noises and vibrations woke starfire up with fright, a bright light appeared from the crack under her bedroom door. Turning into another hall, they reached Raven's room. Robin found the door had been left open. Cautiously stepping inside looking inside, he was surprised to see a fairly large number of books piled on the floor. Raven turned towards her teammates.

"I recently remembered something I found that the escaped intruder left behind, I think it might hold some importance." She withdrew the vellum she had obtained. Showing Robin the crumpled piece of skin. "Um... what is that Raven?" He immediately took interest. "It's called _vellum_ , also known as _animal skin_. It has been inscribed with a number of Alchemy symbols, _thirteen_ to be precise. The large one at the top is the binding symbol we found at the research base."

Robin took hold of the vellum, examining it's markings. "Did you find anything about what they meant?"

"Yes, I was able to find and decipher two of the symbols. One is called 'Mortym.'" She emphasized the word. "It was used to help place things in a state of absolute dormancy. These symbols are old and I don't think all of them are from earth."

Robin stared at the ancient skin with a hint of suspicion. "So just what was our mysterious trespasser planning to do with this?" He questioned allowed. Raven titled her head in thought. "I don't know, we're all still in the dark about what the exact true nature of the ritual was. What we saw could have been assumed that the figure was conducting a type of summoning, but from what I've just read about one of the symbols meanings, it seems to be suggesting the opposite."

The tanned alien who had been mostly quiet until now, spoke up. "Perhaps... it was the ritual to _reseal_ a threat... whatever it may have been." Robin looked over his shoulder at her with a raised brow. She no longer seemed to be in a trace, but her voice was still unusually calm. "Raven, you said something about the floating light getting in." He turned back to the dark girl. "Yes... but this time it was bright **blue** and it wasn't flickering like before. It just hovered outside my door until it disappeared, and that _thing_ from outside flew off and left."

Handing her back the vellum, Robin displayed a look of unease as for what he was about tell his already disturbed teammates. "I uh... caught something... _strange_ on the security monitor, just after the tower stopped shacking." He now had both girls undivided attention. "It err... well I think it would be a lot easy to explain if you both saw it for yourselves." He turned and walked out of Raven's room, turning right into the hallway. He walked a few yards down the path, as he neared the corner, it suddenly dawned on him that his teammates hadn't followed. Glancing behind him, he saw the two female titans just standing outside raven's room.

He called to them. "Hey... aren't you two coming?"

 _They didn't respond_.

(MSP) _**Kevin MacLeod - Blue Sizzle**_

Confusion crossed the Boy Wonders face, he turned to face them. "Um... _girls_?" He called out to them again.

 _They remained silent_.

Robin started pacing towards them. "... _Starfire_? ... _Raven_? are you two _okay_?" His confusion grew to concern, it was like they were oblivious to his presence.

"Robin… _ah_ …" Starfire uttered above a whisper.

Robin was now sprinted forward. Reaching the two girls he grabbed their shoulders, though they were still unresponsive. They just stood there... facing away from him... side by side... _completely motionless_.

" _HEY_! Starfire! Raven! _What's wrong_!" He discovered that Starfire had turned such a discolored, pale version of orange, while Raven had clenched her teeth. Suddenly, a familiar clicking noise could be heard coming from the other end of the hallway. Robin looked up ahead and gasped.

 _The flickering light was slowly coming towards them from around a corner.  
_  
The two girls stared at it with wide eyes, like deer caught in the headlights. Realizing they were in danger, Robin hastily yanked the girls back by their arms, directing their focus away from the flickering light. Robin pulled them all the way back into Raven's room, as soon as they entered, he released them and slammed the door shut. Raven slowly came back to their senses, quickly wiping the sweat from her brow. Starfire... having previously looked into the red light, began to feel empty inside.

Robin stayed close to the door, listening out for the clicking noise. It was getting louder... _louder_... louder until it was right outside the door. He braced for battle, clenching his fists and ready to reach into his utility belt and throw a 'Bird Bomb' into the hallway. Whatever had taken over the world was **not** going to take him or his friends! _The flickering light could be seen through the_ _crack under the door_. Robin held his breath while Raven stood in front of Starfire, ready to back Robin up with any means. The flickering light remand outside for just over a minute, before it started to moving again. The clicking noise faded as it got further away, leaving them in total silence once more. A few seconds passed before Robin leaned forward with his ear pressed against the door. "It's finally gone. I think we're safe now."

(MSP)

The tension within the room ceased. Robin looked back to see Starfire peering over Raven's shoulder. Still pale to the point of looking white, she stared back at him. The pure, unbridled fear poured from her eyes. Raven, although not as badly affected was clutching at her chest, her heart racing as she tried to calm herself down enough to retain her powers. Both girls were clearly shaken up. Whatever this unseen threat was, it had powers like nothing he'd ever seen before. With the threat no longer being limited to the outside, he realized now that he had to rethink his strategy. Robin stared down at the floor, hands covering his face. Sometimes he felt like he had a good handle on this whole situation, thinking rationality and logically, but other times... _he felt like bawling_.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''  
(MSP) ** _Audionautix - Deep Space_**

Beast Boy hurriedly made his way down the corridor. His throat dry and parched. Pulling on the straps of Starfire's backpack, he soon came across another door. The name 'RAVEN' was written on a plaque, in all capital letters. Beast Boy stared at it for nearly a minute, debating on whether it was even safe to take a look inside. He knew, he'd only brave the empath's room because she wasn't there. However, under the current circumstances, he doubted it mattered anymore. Getting the lighter back out, he took a few deep breaths. So far, everywhere he'd been was either empty, a mess, or a real nightmare... just what would he find in _Raven's room_? a room that was _supposed_ to be dark and scary? Having no other choice, Beast Boy slid the door open.

Holding the lighter into the darkness, he slowly looked around the room. The bedroom was silent. Still. A room holding it's breath. He looked around it with the eyes of one about to bolt. The creepy flame-like decorations were still on the walls. Raven's happy-sad theater statue sat on its pedestal in one corner. Her giant antique globe of the planet Earth stood in another. And, of course, there was her bookcase filled with books against the wall. The dark on dark colors gave the whole place a dark, moody outlook. Beast Boy scratched the back of his head, wondering what he was even doing in here? the one piece of technology that Raven acquired was a hand cranked record player sitting on a small table near her closet. It must have been over a hundred years old.

A tall cabinet caught his interest. Feeling curious and knowing perfectly well Raven would've killed him if she knew, decided to see what was in the cabinet. The heavy double doors opened with a creak. Surprisingly, it's many shelves were crammed with a colorful array of modern items. There was a necklace that he recognized as one of the ones that Starfire had given all of them on Blorthog Day. There was a large stuffed chicken at the bottom, the kind you might win at a carnival... it looked vaguely familiar. And there was a stack of hand bound leather books... "Huh?" Beast Boy saw a book that didn't seem to belong with the others. He wiped the dust away to reveal the title, _**'The Day the Earth Stood Still** '_ Beast Boy snorted at the irony. Why would Raven even _have_ a book on science fiction? ...unless it was _supposed_ to be found... acting on a hunch, he flipped it open. It was quite a bit older, and the pages were yellowed. **Harry Bates** the author was.

 _There was writing under the signature_.

The handwriting was scrawled and the date was recent. Was it Raven's? Come to think of it, he'd never seen her write _anything_ … it wasn't much to read, but it left him puzzled.

 _Dear Beast Boy or Cyborg,_

 _If either of you are reading this, it means we've failed and they got us all. I'm sorry. We tried to locate you in time, but we must have been too late. They're super-powerful now. If they got all three of us, that means you two are the only ones left who still have a chance at survival._ _I'm so sorry I failed... I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to fight my way out of here. I am all alone... In the name of Azarath, please save me..._ _I'm counting on you... both of you._

 _Love,_

 _Raven_

Beast Boy eyed the closing remark, _love_. That was so _unlike_ her. Dark dots were all over the page, though. _Tears_? She almost _never_ cried. Had she truly hidden this note specifically for him or Cyborg to find…? He flipped through the rest of the book, but found nothing else. Placing the book back inside the cabinet, he continued searching around.

He saw the antique record player and went over to it. There was a dusty stack of records piled next to it, and he looked at the first one. " _Clair de Lune_ by C. Debussy... sounds like some kinda expensive French restaurant." he mumbled and began looking though the stack. " _Piano Sonata No. 2 in Bb minor. Funeral March_ by F. Chopin... _Pavane for a Dead Princess_ by M. Ravel... what kind of a person listens to this stuff?"

(MSP)

There was a record already on the turn table. His curiosity growing, he looked back, making sure there was no lurking threat. He took hold of the handle and started cranking it to wind up a mechanism. After a minute of experimenting, he finally got it to play. Soon a hauntingly beautiful and sad melody filled the room.

(MSP) _**Mysterious Ambient Background Music - The Rake**_

As it played, he walked around aimlessly.

Taking a closer look at her bookcase, it looked as though someone had ransacked it, but otherwise it was _fine_. Her fiction books remained untouched, and he found them dusty. No one had touched them in ages. He pulled some books out from one of the shelves, and noticed a word had been scratched into the shelf:

 _ALONE_

Most of the books were in the same incomprehensible language; the letters weren't even in the English alphabet.

He put the books back, he did notice more words carved into the shelves, this time in neat gothic handwriting:

 _The rain in this world are my tears_

There was something else, written very small in a corner. He bent down holding his lighter close to read it:

 _Why go on living?_

Wow. A wave of sadness came over him as he realized just how unhappy she must have been since... whatever had taken over. Not even her _own _destiny to destroy the world had driven her to such extent of depression. But then he noticed something else even smaller written below it:

 _HOPE_

He looked down at the floor for a moment, taking it all in. He remembered something Robin had once said, that Raven was the most hopeful person that he knew.

A light breeze passed through the room. He froze on the spot and slowly glanced over to see the heavy black curtains that covered the window. Somehow, they were being blown by a small wind... _from the_ _inside_. He shuddered lightly, clutching the lighter in defense. He cautiously went over to the window. Pulling back the curtains, he was immediately confronted with a disturbing sight.

 _A massive, gaping hole was blown through the armored plating._

Beast Boy was hit by a wave of cold air. The reinforced shutter covering the window had exploded open, as though a missile had hit the tower. Beast Boy quickly surveyed the damaged wall, placing his hand on the remaining crumpled metal. No... the damage had been caused from the **_inside_**. He heard it groan in protest. It was barley holding up. Something had been blasted out of the tower... but _what_? a few moments later, he peeked out the hole again. The thick, murky fog was still outside. He couldn't see around to the front of the tower, as well as the ground below. It was all completely empty except – hey, what was _that_? Beast Boy leaned down, peering out over the ledge. Caught on a piece of perturbing metal was _Raven's cloak_ gently flapping against the tower in the light breeze. "What the –?" He reached down and pulled it back inside.

 _Raven's cloak was a mess_. It was torn straight down the middle, and the hood was completely gone. Beast Boy bent forward slightly, clutching the cloak in his hands. "Raven…" he whispered softly. His hands shook and he squeezed his burning eyes shut. "Where did you go…?" his voice had cracked with emotion. She was gone. They all were. Swallowed up by the unseen force that had plagued the city. He'd guessed on her own that Raven had fought whatever had come for her… and apparently blew a hole in the side of her room in the process. These things slammed into him like a tun of bricks and he could feel his legs threatening to collapse.

He shakily made his way over to her cowl-shaped bed, almost in a daze. Not knowing how long he'd been in this horrible world, he didn't know how long it had been since he'd slept, thinking his internal clock was completely screwed up. Sitting on her bed, it's springs groaned in protest, as if ready to give out. He brought the cloak to his nose. It was stained with patches of dry blood, rain water, burns, and tears. But… his superhuman sense of smell was able to catch the distant scent of herbal tea and lavender. It was there that he openly wept. Beast Boy drew his legs up to his scratched up chest, burying his face in the cloak. As he sat there, struggling to keep breathing normally, only now did he realize just how much the gothic Titan had really meant to him. He gazed down at the sheets where Raven had lay so many times. His breath caught in his throat, He… _he liked Raven_. He admitted this to himself silently... _h_ _e liked her a lot_. He was hit with the realization of just how he truly felt about her... _about all his friends_ , but Raven in particular, was special to him. There was no other way he could put it. She was the _forbidden fruit_ of the team.

He couldn't pinpoint exactly when he discovered that he had growing affection towards the dark empath, he guessed it was during those rare moments where he'd see her smile. It was always directed at someone else, but when it appeared, it was a sight to behold. Oh, how he'd longed to make her smile... _or laugh_ for that matter. Heck, his mindless jokes and quirks aimed at her had all been stabs at affection, only to be turned away each time. None of the others knew of this, which he was most thankful for.

(MSP)

The record finished playing, and was making a clicking sound as the needle hit the end each time it went around. He quelled his tears and sat there motionless for a moment. "Get a grip, Garfield. Raven wouldn't be sitting here crying." He croaked to himself, still thoroughly upset.

He finally got a hold of himself and slowly rose from the bed, removing Starfire's backpack, he gazed longingly at the tattered cloak. Then… _he put it on_. Curling into what remained of Raven's cloak, he found solace in the small warmth that it provide. The brooch was missing, so he expertly tided the torn fabric ends together, as though it were an ascot. Raven's cloak draped protectively around him, almost lovingly. He inhaled her scent again, his animal instincts prickling. He slid the backpack on over the cloak and looked himself over. The cloak barely covered most of his body, it was so badly damaged, but he liked it.

He took another look through the large hole that Raven had created, sighing softly he closed the curtains to conceal it once more. It was time to move on. He made his way over to the door, before he could open it he stopped and listened.

 _There was movement outside in the corridor._

(MSP) _**Haunting Atmospheric Soundscape - Nothing in here is quite how it seems**_

Beast Boy held his breath as the distant noise of what sounded like _scrapping metal_ coming from behind Raven's door. Whatever was outside didn't hang around as it rushed passed the door until it faded out down the corridor. "Um... that was... _weird_." Beast Boy stared at the door, trying to think of a reason not to open it. Heaving out a sigh, he slid the door open and peered out into the hallway. It was dark and empty, with no trace of a disturbance. He stepped out, and froze as he spotted a large shape disappear behind a corner. "What was... _dude_..." His thoughts traveled to the mysterious people/animals that he'd gotten brief glimpses since this whole ordeal started. Just _**who** _or _**what**_ were they? he was no closer to finding out, all he did know was, they seemed to be leading him somewhere... but just exactly _where_? he knew there was only one way to find out.

Sighing in defeat of his own instincts, he started in the direction of the unknown shape. The hallway was now unnaturally colder and darker, and seemed a thousand times longer than it ever had. Arriving at the corner, he edged himself around it. It was too dark to make out anything, but he could hear frantic footsteps up ahead. Did they know he was following them? he continued to wonder down several more corridors, treading quietly as he could. Every now and then he'd hear the same sound of metal scrapping just off in the distance. He emerged into another corridor, coming to a complete stop at what he saw next.

Up ahead, the door to Cyborg's room had been opened. A large black mass was lying in the doorway. Fighting down a shuddered, he moved towards it ready deploy another one of Robin's gadgets. The large mass was suddenly dragged into Cyborg's room, out of sight.

Beast Boy froze again, not at all expecting that outcome. The sudden sounds of metal being slammed against something caught his attention. He sneaked over to the door and leaned up against the wall. It all went quiet for a moment, then the room was lit up by electric sparks. Startled by this, Beast Boy morphed into a housefly and discreetly flew into the room, landing on a nearby cabinet. Turning around the small green fly stared in absolute disbelief at what was taking place.

 _The darkly dressed figure from the research facility was **here** , working on Cyborg's torso._

(MSP)

* * *

The video feed cuts out. Arny puts down the remote and leans back in his chair. "We're not far from the climax people! there's only a handful of chapters left... at least with _this_ story." His eyes shift back and fourth mischievously. "It won't be long now! but in the meantime, I'm gonna start off the new year by watchin' the _Russell Crowe_ show." Arny switches the channel to _Comedy Central_. A theme tune starts playing.

 _Born in New Zealand in 64, A hot-headed actor named Russell Crowe._  
 _He loves to act but he loves one thing more, Fightin' Around the World!_


	16. The Informant

The _Russell Crowe_ show comes to a close as the ending theme tune play out.

 _Tugger's whistles blowin', means we must be goin'..._  
 _no more Russell Crowin' for yoooou._  
 _But now don't you start to whine, I'll see ya again next time...  
cuz there's plenty a' more a fightin' left ta doooo.  
Makin' movies, making songs and fightin' round the world._

 _See ya next time everybody!_

"Hah ha! that shortly lived show will _never get old_!" Arny switches the channel back to the paused video. "Alrighty, I won't keep you people waiting any longer... so here you go!" Straight away he unpasuses the TV.

* * *

THE DISPATCH

Part 16: _**The Informant**_

The Boy Wonder was disgruntled. No... disgruntled didn't even begin to cover it. He was completely and totally confused _and_ flustered. Annoyance was only a slight part of his current emotions. He was busy agonizing over the whole situation. Most of his mind was tempted to disregard all the warnings and go outside to face the unknown threat that was invading the city. He and his teammates had attempted to try and intercept... _whatever the threat was_... only to have the confidence completely drained from their bodies. They were now forced to keep a low profile within the tower, but he wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep this up. Robin was in a state of mental chaos. The thought of this was hard to wrap his mind around.

He found himself sitting in front of the large viewing screen in the common room. A new message alert was now displayed on the screen. He sighed, unsure of whether he'd get any straightforward answers. He opened the file.

He was greeted by three words:

 _I am alive._

(MSP) _**Ambient Background Music - Cicada 3301**  
_

Robin stared at the short message, it was soon followed by a longer paragraph below it.

 _Sorry I was gone for so long. Power went out where I was, so I've relocated. Trying to slowly make my way towards the west coast, so my reception is a bit spotty. A storm rolled in and I caught sight of something in the sky. If you ever see one of these things GET AS LOW AS YOU CAN. And if you see the blue light, DO NOT let it shine on you._

Attached to the message was a video link. Robin instantly opened the link. The screen went dark for a few seconds, the sound of rumbling thunder could be heard. Just then, lighting flashed for a second. A brief glimpse of an abnormally large shape was seen behind a row of tree tops. It went dark again for a few seconds. The lightning struck again, lighting up the sky for a little longer. Robin could clearly see a giant dark shape gliding slowly across the night sky. It was the same bizarre shape that he'd seen captured on the security system earlier. The screen went black and the video ended.

Robin quickly typed back a reply.

 _This is Robin of the Teens Titans, I'm so glad to hear from you. Are you okay?_

He instantly received a response.

 _Yeah, I'm doing okay considering what I've been through._

Robin took the opportunity to try and get some more information.

 _Why should I not let the blue light shine on me? what happened that makes you say that?_

There was a long pause before he received another message.

 _Well when I got outside I saw someone running away, and when the blue light shined on them they uh... well suffice to say it wasn't pretty.  
I took cover inside and I just heard yelling, but this time it sounded like the person was in agony.  
It's just quiet now._

Robin quickly typed back a reply.

 _Where are you currently located?_

The message browser remained blank for over a minute. Robin began typing again.

 _What's going on? are you still there? please message me._

Surprisingly, another message appeared almost immediately.

 _I'm trying my best to keep calm as I type this, but I think there's a dead body in the street. There's no way I'm taking a picture of a dead body. This is too gruesome.  
I'm just going to try to avoid it.  
_  
Robin gasped, the situation was taking an even darker turn. Another minute of silence passed before another message was posted.

 _Listen, I might sound insane but I think something is covering the sun. If the sun went out you would see thousands of stars but we don't. We would also feel different, earth would just float out into empty space but we are in orbit. The sun is still there but something is covering it._

The masked detective was stunned at this possible discovery. He decided to send the unknown informer a message detailing the current events.

 _Hey there, our situation has been getting steadily worse since that first message you sent us. We were forced to barricade ourselves inside our own tower. There's been several points where I could see those lights, mostly just flashing on our security monitors. One of those lights found a way inside the tower and seemed to be... patrolling... they seem to act intelligently and sentiently. I also caught sight of that wired ship. The one shaped like an origami. It periodically floated above the tower at random times, I guess trying to scoop out survivors. Speaking of which, has there been any news on government institutions or the military? I hope for the best for every one in this disaster._

"I hope this info is worth something." Robin muttered as he sent his message.

There was another long, intense wait before he finally received a much needed reply

 _I have a piece of advise a little obvious but useful. If you hear a shuddering sound and flashing lights, get on the ground and do not move. If you think you have time, hide in a room with no windows or if you're outside, hide in a ditch. I also have something else to share. Military_ _ **ain't**_ _a good idea. Firstly I tried to go to the police station, but it was empty. Then I went to a military base. I heard gunshots and there were dozens red lights and hundreds of people who appeared to be... mindless. It sounds ridiculous I know but... they were all standing in the same place for about ten minutes. I left as fast as I could._

One final sentence was then separately added to the message.

 _The body is gone. Didn't see what happened to it, but it's not in the street anymore._

(MSP)

The perplexed leader rubbed a gloved hand roughly over his temple, staring blankly into the computer screen. His mind no longer focusing on the agonizingly small print on the screen. "Robin?" Came a voice of unease. Robin jumped several inches into the air and whirled around in his computer chair. Raven was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hey Raven." Robin said, brightening visibly. "So um... hows Star doing? is she okay?"

Raven ventured across the room and stood a few feet behind him. "She hasn't displayed any signs of irregularity, but she has been very quiet. But I guess that's to be expected..." Raven trailed off and seemed to stare at nothing. Robin noticed this and quickly acted. "Uh... Raven? what about _yourself_? did you feel any different when you saw the light?"

His concerned voice brought her back to the question at hand.

"I err... did feel... _weird_... in a way that I can barley describe. It had some kind of control over me and Starfire. It's constant flashing was hypnotic, I tried to shut my eyes or look away, but I couldn't. It was pulling us into a trance, and our inner fear only strengthened it's power... _we were completely at it's mercy_." She gravely admitted.

Robin looked down at the floor, a groan of frustration escaped his mouth as the weight of the situation continued to pile on his shoulders. Now it was the fearless leader's turn to be asked about his well-being. "Are _you_ alright? you look troubled." Robin lifted his head towards her. "What? oh, sure. I'm fine," He said in smoothest way possible, but his forced up and very fake-looking smile betrayed him. "Are you sure?" She asked him skeptically. Robin nodded. "Sure, I'm just... at a complete and total loss..." He hung his head once again, the smile now gone.

"You are worried about Starfire, as well as how we're going to get through this whole ordeal." Raven stated. Robin marveled at the female ability to sense the roots of emotions. "I guess you could say that." Robin said, giving a distressed sigh. "I just hope she can pull through this and still retain her bright positivity." Robin openly hoped. "As long as shes staying in your room, she'll be safe from anymore encounters." Raven awkwardly spoke. "Um, _actually_... she went back to her own room."

"WHAT?!" The Boy Wonder nearly jumped out of his chair a second time.

"Not long after you left, Starfire began talking again. She pleaded with me to take her to her room. She didn't say _what for_ , just that is was urgently important." Raven calmly explained.

"And you left her there by _**herself**_?!" Robin was now visibly tense.

"She claimed it was a _Tamaranian_ _thing_ , something that she had to to do in private, so I told her to keep her door closed and not open it unless it's one of us." Robin eased down a little. "I thought we agreed that _your room_ was most secure?! Star has already had an unseen presence in her room. They could be something else in there waiting for her!"

"She assured me it wouldn't take long, but I can go back and check on her if you want." She advised him. "I'd really appreciate it if you would Raven, I can't run the risk of losing anyone else. We're already missing half of the team as it is." For the first time she could remember, Raven could see genuine confusion and even a bit of fear in the leader's eyes. "Yes... _I am still aware of that_..." Raven soberly uttered, shifting her gaze to the floor. "I'll go and check on Starfire." She slowly turned away and left the room. Robin frowned, the thought of Starfire or Raven being abducted by an otherworldly light sauce and whisked away to God knows where... Robin tried not to think about it.

(MSP) _**CO AG - A Gothic Symphony**_

It was almost midday, but you couldn't tell because it was still dark out. Raven made her way towards Starfire's room when she soon came to a section where the corridor divided. It was there that she caught sight of Beast Boy's room, his door had been left opened for reasons unknown. _Had it been open all this time_? she couldn't remember. Standing silently in the empty hall, Raven's suspicious began to arise. She peered back towards the other corridor, half afraid the flashing light-thing was at the other end waiting for her. Scolding herself for such a childish notion, Raven faced the other hall. With a defeated sigh she nervously walked down the darkened hallway towards Beast Boy's room. She had only been down here a few times. In the past, it was always he who had been seeking her out - either knocking on her door almost every day, interrupting her mediation, or pestering her with silly remarks when she was in the common room trying to read. Although he had sort of cooled down in the past few months, she realized.

Raven warily approached Beast Boy's room, she prepared for the worst and peered into the entrance, finding it to be as dark as the hallway. Reaching in with her arm she flicked the lights on. The room was unoccupied. Feeling a sense of relief, Raven cautiously entered the dimly lit room.

It really had been a while since she had been in here. She remembered a bunk bed, empty pizza boxes strewn about and clutter everywhere. He still had the bunk bed, the top bunk now being used to store toys, she eyed the infamous ' _Help Me Count_ ' monkey that would cry out at random times. Hopefully he had taken the battery out, she thought. The clutter on the floor was largely picked up, although she did see one empty pizza box on the floor near his desk.

 _Wait, Beast Boy has a desk?_ he had a huge computer monitor and keyboard on it, some art supplies scattered about and some carved wooden animals in a box. Lent up against the wall were two guitars, an electric one and an acoustic one respectively. She remembered pictures of animals on the walls, and they were still there. The biggest one being that of a T-Rex, one of Beast Boy's favorite animals. Raven glanced at the poster. It hung on the wall staring at her and seemed to follow her around the room… she shook the uncertainty out of herself.

The box of carved animals was within reach, she pulled it over and took some out. There was a majestic lion, an African elephant, and a rhinoceros. They were very skillfully crafted, someone had spend a lot of time carving these. She set all the animals out on the desk, although the giraffe was not able to stand because one of it's legs had broken off. Raven wondered if Beast Boy had carved them himself? though it was hard to picture him ever going through the time and effort. These were just _too well done_. "He must have bought them from somewhere." She declared. "That would make more sense." She carefully placed them back inside the box and looked around some more.

What caught her attention next was really shocking to her, on the opposite wall was a small bookcase, filled with books. There was even one on the night stand next to his bed. She walked closer. What was he reading…?

She saw that the small book was in a forest color like Beast Boy's hair. It was a hardcover book with a running wolf engraved in the middle of the front cover. She looked at the top inscription written in silver italics, which read ' _Of Animals and Heroes_ ' _._ Beast Boy's real name, _'Garfield Logan_ ,' was inscribed on the bottom right of the book.

She knew she should just leave the room, but her curiosity about Beast Boy's book got the better of her. Looking around out of habit to see if she was all by herself, she sat on his bed, heaved a sigh and wondering what to do. She picked up the book and opened it to the first page. On top of the page read the title ' _Through the Eyes of an Animorph_ ' _._

"Yep, this ought to be interesting," Raven said to herself. Taking a breath, she started reading.

(MSP)

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''  
(MSP) _**Kevin MacLeod ~ Apprehension**_

Beast Boy remained hidden in his housefly form, staring at the mysterious figure. It had it's back turned to him, but he recognized it's gloomy attire. The dark silhouette of a cloak that had been shredded at the bottom, along with a large rounded hat donning it's head. Cyborg's form was laid out on his charging table/bed which the figure appeared to be... _experimenting_ on. This left the young shape-shifter disturbed and confused. Just _how_ and _what_ was it doing _**here**_? had it somehow gotten sucked into the same nightmarish hell that he was experiencing? and just ** _what_** was it doing to his immobile teammate's body?

With the possibility of his friend's life being in danger, he quickly flew up towards the ceiling. The green fly landed on an overhead light fixture, crawling to the edge so he could got a better look of the situation. He could see the figure was poking around the Tin Man's exposed chest. Suddenly, a bright fountain of electrical sparks lite up the room as they flew out from his chest. The figure jumped back and shielded itself within it's cloak. Beast Boy was instantly blinded by light, he let out an inaudible squeak and flew off to the the right side of the room. A puff of smoke poured out from Cyborg's internals. The figure waited for the smoke to clear before cautiously stepping forward to survey the damage.

(MSP)

The green housefly perched itself on a nearby shelf that was loaded with hardware, blinking to get it's multiple vision back. The figure stared at the bionic mans form. It stood motionless for an uncomfortable long time.

 _It then let out a low growl_.

" **I know your here**!"

(MSP) **_Dark Ambient Music - There is nowhere left to hide_**

Beast Boy froze, completely taken off guard.

" **Show yourself,** **NOW**!" It spoke in that low gruff voice from before.

Beast Boy couldn't tell if he was talking to him or an unseen presence, that was until he crawled out from behind the hardware. Even though he was no bigger than a paperclip, Beast Boy was mortified to see the figure had turned around and was staring up, _directly at him_!

" **I said NOW! don't try to hide**!" It reached inside it's cloak as if ready to deploy a weapon. Beast Boy instantly snapped back to reality, not wanting to be taken out so easily, he immediately flew into the air, transforming into a large tiger, rolling onto the ground, quickly turning back to face the intruder. A pair of blue tinted goggles met his sight, shooting him an ominous stare, almost as if looking straight into the green tigers soul. The rest of it's face covered by a darkened ascot. The intruder made no movement in response whatsoever. It merely stood there, not taking it's obscured eyes off him, an unseen cold stare following his every move.

Beast Boy kept his head low to the ground, his front paws leaning down, his hind legs remaining upright, a growl rumbling between his sharp teeth. He was prone into position like that of cat about to pounce on a mouse. The figure still had one arm tucked inside it's cloak, with the other reaching for something he couldn't see. Beast Boy opened his mouth, twitching his whiskers, giving a better glimpse of his ferocious fangs.

The two were caught in a standoff off that went on for at least a minute, until the intruder very cautiously began to withdraw it's arm from it's cloak. Beast Boy refused to back down and lifted his shoulders, about to push off against the ground.

" **You** ** _seriously_** **don't want to do that**." It now spoke in a cold yet slightly _less_ menacing voice.

This stopped Beast Boy momentarily. He gave a confused look, tilting his head slightly, but still not dropping his guard. It took this moment to reveal that his hand was empty. " **You don't want to hurt me as much as I don't want to hurt you**." It then turned away from the green tiger without a second thought.

Beast Boy slowly eased back into a regular stance, returning to human form. "Dude...! just _**who**_ _ **the hell**_ _are you_?!" He exasperated, flailing his arms about.  
" **Just be glad that** ** _I_** **am _Real_ and not an incarnation formed by _T_** _ **hem**_." The stranger returned to the Tin Man's body, completely ignoring his question.

"H-hey wait a sec! I-I don't even know what's happening! o-or _why_ I'm even _here_!...a-and just _what exactly_ _are_ _you_ _doing to my_..." He stopped his rambling when he reached the table/bed. "... _injured friend_...?" His jaw falling slightly when he saw Cyborg's condition. His metallic friend was slowly regaining his blue glow, his robotic red eye was no longer flashing or beeping. It would just flicker every few seconds, showing a sign of life.

(MSP)

The stranger stood at his side, holding a pair of jumper cables, which were hooked up to a portable generator that was silently running on the floor. Was it trying to jump-start Cyborg's system? from all the times he'd watch the bionic man repair or upgrade himself, this did seemed to be the case. The stranger attached the jumper cables to his processing mains and glanced at the power read-out on his half detached right arm. The percentage number was displayed at **7%** and was steadily beginning to climb.

"Your... your _helping him_?" Once again he was thrown of guard by another turn of events, he faced the stranger. "B-but _why_? you don't even _know_ _him_?" It bent down and pulled out a toolbox from under the table/bed. It took out some pliers and a screw driver. " **I know that he will _Die_ here if he doesn't resurrect his power supply**." It then began working on his tangled wiring. " **Besides, it would be unfair for him to perish like this, not after being stuck in suspended animation for all this time**." Hearing this statement, Beast Boy quickly brought up a long awaited question.

"Um... dude? how exactly did _you_ get pulled into this... _this_... _this_ **_nightmare_**?!" The stranger paused in his work and lowed it's head, letting out low grown of defeat. It then turned it's gaze on the changeling. From what it could see behind it's tinted goggles, he looked wary, desperate and scared. " **I suppose a rational explanation is need for all this** **, but don't expect every detail.** " It then looked around the room, uncertain that they weren't alone. " **We can't talk for long, so just listen and don't ask too many questions, _Understood_?**" Beast Boy nodded hesitantly.

(MSP) _**Sinister Dark Ambient Background Music - Dark Rage**_

" **That night at the research facility, a _T_** _ **ransition**_ **was due to take place, a transition that** ** _I_** **was tasked with preventing**." It glanced behind the green teen towards the open doorway, when no threat emerged it continued. " **The vault that you and your friend here discovered was a _G_** _ **ateway**." _

" _Aaaa_... _gateway_?" Beast Boy raised an eyebrow.

" **Yes, a gateway that separated the world from a powerful force that was consumed of nothing but _Eternal Darkness_ and _Sin_. When that vault was opened, _They_** **were unleashed upon the world. They were able to hide in the undergrounds, quietly looming beneath the city. Then just over the coarse of a few days, they slowly began to take over**."

An icy chill went up and down Beast Boy's spine. "No way, man." He whispered, not wanting to believe it. "So what was that bright orang-y light thing that nearly fried me and Cyborg?"

" ** _That_** **was the _T_** ** _hem_** **entering your world, to insure that they won't get imprisoned again, they destroy the building that housed the vault**. **It was only a matter of time before the whole town began to go stir-crazy. They never knew what hit them, no one was safe, not even the remaining Titans could stop it**."

Beast Boy went cold when he heard that. " _No way_. They wouldn't have just stood back and... _wait_! what do _you_ know about the other Titans?!" The stranger stared long and hard at the green teenager, knowing that this question was fully unavoidable. It huffed out a sigh before answering.

" **Something else happened after the vault was opened, the entire foundation of the research facility was unceremoniously sucked inside through a vortex**."

Beast Boy shuddered visibly, feeling hot tears in the corners of his eyes. "Oh man…" He whispered as it dawned on him. "Robin, Star... _Raven too_ …" He fell back against the table/bed, sliding down to the floor. "What happened to them…? He whispered, tears in the corners of his eyes. "Where did they go?" The stranger moved forward until it was right next to him. leaning down to his level, it's gravely voice responded in a rather sober tone.

" **In spite of what this world may have you believe... your friends are** ** _still_** ** _alive_**."

Beast Boy froze, looking up at the strangers towering form. "Wah-wuh... _what_?! " He cried out in confusion.

" **Yes, but they don't have much time left. The vortex sent them to an alternative world. A world created by _T_** _ **hem**_ **... and they don't even realist it**."

(MSP)

* * *

The TV abruptly pauses. "In the immortal words of M. Night Shyamalan..." Arny stands up dramatically with his arms spread out. " ** _What a twist_**!" Sitting back down he addresses the audience. "So, at long last, Beast Boy has uncovered some about this whole ordeal. But will the Titans be alive long enough for him to come to the rescue? Or will they be consumed by the unknown evil?" Arny shrugs. "As your host, all I can say is... _stay tuned_!


End file.
